Fresh Start
by ImaBookworm97
Summary: Draco and Hermione develop feelings for each other when they return to Hogwarts after the war.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Takes place after the final battle at the beginning of the school year. All those who had missed their seventh because of the war were invited back to Hogwarts, though it was not compulsory.**

**Hermione's POV**

I made my way back towards the compartment Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna and I were sharing, with a bag of cauldron cakes in my hand. I tried not to think about the fact that this was the first time that Ron wasn't riding the Hogwarts Express with us, apart from when he and Harry stupidly took the Weasley's flying car and I spent the trip with Ginny. I didn't like thinking about Ron much at all since we broke up last month, but it was hard to avoid when I was alone. Things hadn't ended particularly badly, we'd certainly had worst fights when we were just friends, but it still hurt. I was so caught up in trying to not think about what I was thinking about that I bumped into someone and the bag of cauldron cakes fell to the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I said regaining my balance then I looked into the pale, pointed face and grey eyes of Draco Malfoy. Startled I braced myself for whatever insult he chose to throw at me and was therefore surprised when said, "No, uh, my fault." He looked very uncomfortable and when I looked more closely I realised that his eyes, which usually looked cold and malicious, were now haunted and sad. I immediately felt a huge rush of sympathy towards the boy who had tormented me for six years. I had never really given him much thought during the previous year, I was too busy trying to make sure Harry, Ron and I survived. But whenever I did I was never angry at him. I pitied him. I had hoped that all the events of the previous year would change him but I had expected him to continue his hostile behaviour towards me and Harry. We stood there for a second not quite knowing what to say. Then surprising me further Draco bent down and handed me my bag of cauldron cakes.

"Oh, thank you," I said smiling.

"No problem," he replied giving me a small smile.

There was another pause that was slightly less awkward but still not comfortable.

"Well it's nice to see you again," I said, desperate to break the silence.

He gave a nervous laugh before saying, "You don't have to say that."

"No it's true," I insisted. It was stretching the truth a bit but I wasn't _un_happy to see him.

"Oh," he looked slightly pleased, "It's nice to see you too."

"I didn't think you'd be coming back," I said trying to keep up the conversation.

"Well, my mum wanted me to finish my education." He sounded slightly bitter about having to come back.

"You don't seem, uh, happy about that," I noted.

"I don't want to see the looks people give me or hear what they say about me." He admitted looking down.

"Draco it wasn't your fault," I told him. I reached out to touch his arm supportively but decided against it; I wasn't sure how he'd react to me touching him. My arm fell back to my side but I think he noticed it. "And when does Draco Malfoy care about what anyone else thinks of him?" I asked with a smile trying to ease the tension. Draco smiled but his eyes were still sad. "Well I better get back, people will be wondering where I am." I said, moving past him but not yet turning my back to him.

"Yeah, I should too," he said taking a step backwards. He glanced at the bag before saying, "Weas- uh, Ron's probably hungry."

My face fell at the mention of Ron, "He's uh, not coming back this year."

"Oh," Draco said, looking confused, "I thought you and him were-"

"No," I said cutting him off, "Not anymore."

"Oh," He said again, "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Not your fault," I said quietly. There was another pause and I took another step back, "Well, uh, bye."

"Bye."

I turned around and started to walk away but Draco called me back.

"Oh, and Hermione, by the way," he said and I turned back around, "You look great." He said smiling before turning and walking back down the corridor.

I smiled before heading back to my own compartment. I had changed my appearance slightly since the war and breaking up with Ron. My hair was no longer quite so bushy, but rather straight. I had also stopped just wearing jeans and plain shirts or jumpers. I still wore them sometimes but now wore skirts, shorts, dresses and more interesting tops. Ginny had helped me with some of these changes. Today I had on a blue halter neck summer dress that was mid-thigh length. It was cute but also comfortable considering I'd be spending the whole day on the train. I finally reached my compartment and slipped back inside. Neville and Luna were sitting on one side sitting rather close together, holding each other's hand. Ginny was lying down on the other side with her head in Harry's lap. Harry was playing with her hair absentmindedly while talking to Neville. They all looked up when I entered and passed around the bag of cauldron cakes. Ginny sat up when the bag reached her and Harry scooted over and put an arm around her. I sat down next to Harry and rested my head against the wall.

"You've been gone a while, what happened?" Ginny asked, playing with her cauldron cake.

"I, um ran into Draco Malfoy," I said cautiously, I wasn't sure how they were going to react. Luna looked up with a curious expression, Ginny looked slightly shocked and Harry looked up from his cake his expression hard to read. Neville was the quickest to speak, he sounded surprised, "I didn't think he'd come back."

"Me neither," I replied, glad someone had spoken, "he said his mum wanted him to finish school."

"What was he like?" Harry asked curiously.

"Pretty good actually," I said smiling. "He was nice, sad though."

"Well, what'd you expect?" Ginny asked, "He spent a year as practically Voldemort's servant, he went through the terror we all did in the battle and his father's in Azkaban!"

"Well I never really thought about it," I admitted, "But I didn't expect him to be nice."

"Well you, Harry and Ron saved his life," Luna said seriously, "He wouldn't treat you badly after that. Although he could've felt awkward and in debt and dealt with it by lashing out at you."

"Well I'm glad he doesn't," I said, "It was nice to have a civil conversation with him. So what were you all talking about before I came back?"

"Hogwarts" Harry replied, "We were wondering who the new defence against the dark arts professor and head of Gryffindor house would be."

"Kingsley would've been brilliant if he hadn't become Minister for Magic," Neville sighed.

"Nah, he'll be a great minister and it's about time we had a good one," Harry said sourly.

"McGonagall will probably continue looking after Gryffindor until she finds someone else," I said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Draco's POV**

I reached the compartment I shared with Blaise, went back inside and laid across one of the seats thinking about the conversation I'd had with Hermione. Blaise was lounging across the other seat, reading. He looked up when I entered and said hey. After a couple minutes of silence he asked, "What are you thinking about so hard, Drake?"

"Nothing," I said. He raised his eyebrows. "I ran into Hermione Granger on my way back."

"What'd she say to you?" He asked curiously. Like me, Blaise had renounced the prejudices and grudges we'd been brought up with. That was why he and I were still friends but had drifted apart from everyone else.

"She was… nice," I said thinking over our conversation, "A bit surprised, I think she expected me to shout at her. It was a tad awkward though."

"Well of course it would be, you've been enemies for years. You should be glad her boyfriend wasn't there, he's probably the least forgiving one."

"Apparently he didn't come back and isn't her boyfriend anymore." I said wondering why I felt pleased about that fact.

"I bet you're pleased about that," said Blaise with a smirk.

"Why would I be?" I asked, not going to admit that I was.

"Because you like her," Blaise said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?" That had never occurred to me. "Why do you think that?"

Blaise looked shocked, "You're not just denying it you seriously haven't realised!"

"You didn't answer the question," I said, wanting to know the answer.

"You talk about her quite a lot for someone who claims he just wants to make a new start with everyone, given you don't talk about the others you want to start over with as much as her. And whenever you talk about her you get a look on your face that I've never seen on you before but I used to see it on Po-Harry whenever he looked at We-Ginny."

I was stunned. I didn't have a reply and Blaise realised it. I'd never considered liking Hermione but I realised I did talk about her pretty often. I told myself it was because I admired her; her courage and loyalty. I also thought she was quite pretty. Looking back I realised she wasn't the ugly girl I'd made her out to be. She really quite attractive and the changes she'd made over the summer only made her better-looking. Oh. God. I had a crush on Hermione Granger. The realisation must have shown on my face because Blaise smirked triumphantly.

We spent the next hour in silence, Blaise continued reading and I was thinking about Hermione. I was thinking about the time when she Harry and We-Ron were caught and dragged to my place. I now wondered if lying to Aunt Bellatrix had more to do with trying to protect Hermione because I liked her than protecting all three because it was the right thing to do. I couldn't stop myself from replaying Hermione getting tortured over and over in my mind. It made me sick but also made me like her even more. She was so brave and so loyal. She was amazing.

The sound of the compartment door opening stopped me reliving the scene once more. Pansy Parkinson stood in the doorway. "Finally!" She came inside and sat down next to my feet, "I've been through nearly the whole train I was beginning to think you guys hadn't come back." I hadn't kept in touch with Pansy over the summer even though she'd sent me a couple owls. I wasn't sure I wanted to be friends with her anymore. I certainly didn't want to be involved with her anymore and she would sooner or later go back to wanting to have some sort of relationship. "So what have you to been doing?" She asked. Usually Blaise or I would do something entertaining on the trip to Hogwarts or at the very least keep up the conversation. Pansy wasn't usually the one who was the centre of attention and I could tell she was at a loss for any interesting conversation starters. She was pretty boring when it was just her. It was the start of term so she wouldn't have picked up any gossip yet. I could tell that us being so quiet was unnerving for her, she didn't like silence. Blaise had shrugged in response to her question and I didn't really feel like answering. "What's up with you guys, why are you so quiet?" She asked. Blaise held up his book and I shrugged, "I'm just thinking."

"Alright, I'm gunna go get something to eat, find something interesting to do, let me know when you're back to normal." She got up and left and I sighed in relief. I was only starting to realise how little I wanted her around.

"You still wanna be friends with her?" Blaise asked me.

"Not if I can avoid it. What about you?"

"Not really she's so boring."

"Feel kinda bad about leaving her on her own though. We're like the only Slytherins to come back."

"Well hopefully she'll get the message, she'll be alright on her own, she's not our problem, Drake."

"Thank God."

After that conversation stopped for a little while and I went back to thinking about Hermione.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Hermione's POV**

The train rolled to a stop at Hogsmeade station, followed by the usual scramble of kids grabbing their luggage and exiting the train seeing as there were five of us Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna and I waited for a few minutes until the crowd thinned, then we took our luggage down from the racks and joined the queue to take the carriages to Hogwarts castle. I saw Draco further ahead of us talking to Blaise Zabini. As I watched Pansy Parkinson joined them and they stopped talking. No matter how compassionate I was to Draco, Pansy Parkinson would always be a pug-faced bitch. I would never forgive her for yelling that we should sacrifice Harry. Plus she was a massive pain-in-the-ass. I was slightly pleased to see that Draco and Zabini looked annoyed at their newly acquired company. Pansy was now the only one talking looking confusedly at the two boys. When their carriage arrived Zabini stepped aside to tie his shoelace, even though I could see from here that they were both perfect, and Draco started poking through his bag looking worriedly towards the train. Pansy had already climbed into a carriage and by the time she poked her head out to see where her companions were, the thestrals had set off for the castle, pulling the carriage in their wake. I smiled to myself as Draco and Zabini re-joined the queue, I was pleased they too had finally realised how annoying she was. A few moments later our carriage arrived and I climbed in along with Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna. A moment later a rather sad-looking Parvati Patil joined us. I remembered with a pang that Lavender had been killed in the battle of Hogwarts. No matter how much I didn't like her or was angry about her relationship with Ron I never wanted this. I gave Parvati a warm and sympathetic smile. She smiled back, looking slightly happier. As we rode to Hogwarts I struck up a conversation with Parvati. I had never _dis_liked her, I'd just found her giggling attitude annoying. Although now I had a feeling that was gone and would probably never return. I had a feeling I was going to miss the familiarity of it. "How was your summer?" I asked, though I knew it couldn't have been wonderful after losing her best friend.

"Umm… not that bad, I suppose," She replied slowly. "I spent most of it with my family. We went on a small holiday to France, to help cheer us up."

"Oh, I've been there!" I said grabbing the chance for conversation, "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Actually I did," Parvati was starting to smile now. "We ran into some people from Beauxbatons I met at the Triwizard. And it was nice to be able to spend some time with Padma."

"Did you see that boy you went out with after the Yule Ball?" I asked knowing that boys were something we'd both enjoy talking about.

"Oh, yeah," Parvati giggled and for the first time I was happy to hear it. "We went out a bit but… I couldn't exactly take him back home with me." I laughed and Parvati smiled back. "Are you still seeing Ron, then? Where is he, anyway?"

That whipped the smile off my face. "He got an offer at the Auror office and so he didn't want to come back… and, um, no I'm not."

"Oh," Parvati looked sympathetic but also surprised, "Why didn't you and Harry get offered a position?"

"We did," said Harry, entering the conversation, "Hermione and I just turned it down. We said we wanted to finish school first."

"Oh, so you're accepting next year?" Parvati asked and Harry nodded, "I never thought you'd voluntarily do more schoolwork, Harry," Parvati laughed.

Harry and I laughed too, "Me neither but I love Hogwarts and I needed a break from all the fighting." Harry glanced at Ginny, who was talking to Neville and Luna, when he said the part about needing a break. I wasn't sure if Parvati noticed but she wouldn't understand the reasoning behind it anyway. Harry had been indecisive about what he wanted to do unlike Ron and I. But in the end Harry's love for Hogwarts and need for a break won. He also didn't want to test his relationship with Ginny so quickly. The two really loved each other but things were only just starting to pick things up again when Harry, Ron and I had been offered positions at the Auror office. Harry didn't think he wanted to be away from Ginny for so long so soon after they had picked up their relationship, and so he declined. Ron took it a little hard but he got over it. I could tell it was hard for those two to be so far apart.

Parvati and I spent the rest of the trip sharing stories from France. When we entered Hogwarts and made our way to the Great Hall Parvati tagged along behind us and I invited her to sit with us for dinner. As we passed the Slytherin table Draco smiled at me and I smiled back. I tried to ignore the fact that is smile sent butterflies to my stomach. It was just weird being on friendly terms with the Slytherin. Luna gave Neville a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye when we passed the Ravenclaw table. We then reached the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Dean and Seamus. I'd noticed quite a few people staring at Harry, Neville and I but I was more than used to this by now and it didn't bother me. As soon as I sat down I looked up at the staff table. Professor McGonagall had now occupied the throne-like chair at the middle of the table. On her right sat Professor Sprout and on her left Professor Flitwick. Hagrid sat at his usual large chair towards the side of the table. On the other side of Flitwick was Professor Slughorn who, unless I was mistaken, had been looking for me and Harry, seemed quite relaxed now that he realised we were here. Next to him sat a brunette witch who seemed to be in her thirties and whom I guessed was the new defence against the dark arts teacher. She had a kind face but also managed to look fierce. My first impression was good but I wasn't going to let my guard down just in case.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Draco's POV**

I looked over at the Gryffindor house table where Hermione was studying the staff table. After a minute she struck up a conversation with Ginny Weasley and Parvati Patil. For the first time in my life I wished I was sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Drake, you're drooling," Blaise smirked at me.

"No I'm not," I muttered.

"Maybe not but you've been staring at her for the past five minutes."

"Shut up."

"Oh crap there's Pansy," Blaise whispered nodding towards the end of the table. Pansy looked up and down the table but apparently didn't see us because she sat down near a group of sixth year girls. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"D'you think she took the hint when we ditched her at the station?" Blaise asked.

"Nah, she's not gunna give up that quickly, she probably just couldn't see us."

At that moment Professor brought in the sorting hat and stool and everyone shut up as the doors opened and the first years entered. The sorting hat sang a new song, probably about the battle at the end of last year, I wouldn't know. I was staring at Hermione again. She was giving the hat her full attention as it began to sort through the midget first years. I watched as she cheered on the first new Gryffindor and barely remember to clap as a new Slytherin joined our table. Once the sorting was finished, McGonagall stood up to make the customary start-of-term speech, and I looked up at the head table. For the first time I noticed a witch I'd never seen before, she was probably the new DADA teacher. She seemed rather ordinary. McGonagall's speeches were very different to Dumbledore's, but they made a lot more sense to me, not that I was giving her my undivided attention. Hermione was and she was smiling. I registered vaguely that the new professor was called Clarke, before McGonagall sat down and food appeared. As we ate and talked I think Blaise noticed I was looked at Hermione, he was certainly smirking at me. I noticed Hermione was speaking to Parvati Patil quite a lot, I didn't know think were friends. After dinner Blaise and I got up and made our way out of the Hall with the rest of the school. We were just outside the door when I noticed Hermione and her friends were walking next to us.

"Hey," I said to her, smiling. God I probably looked like an idiot.

"Hi," she smiled back. I noticed some of her friends looked rather surprised, but I expected that.

"Well, uh," I was very aware that we were causing a hold-up in the crowd, "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, I guess so," She replied. She was still smiling. I remembered I'd just said goodbye so I turned and walked through the door leading to the Slytherin common room.

"Smooth," Blaise laughed once the door was shut behind us.

"Shut up," I muttered.

**Sorry, this is a short one.**

**Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to this story, it really brightens my day to see the e-mail notifications **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Hermione's POV**

I watched Draco walk off and the turned to see the shocked faces of my friends. Harry, Ginny and Neville, who knew about my previous conversation with him, looked a bit surprised but Dean, Seamus and Parvati were staring at me with their mouths open.

Seamus was the first to speak, "What the hell was that?"

"Um," I wasn't quite sure what to say. "Draco?

"Draco?" Parvati asked incredulously.

"Since when do you call him Draco?" Dean asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Umm… since he started calling me Hermione," This conversation was a lot more awkward for me than the one with Ginny, Harry, Luna and Neville… maybe even more than the earlier conversation with Draco.

"But-," Seamus looked at me like I was insane.

"Just… leave it," Harry interrupted me.

The others stopped talking but I could tell they weren't done questioning me. Once we reached the common room we all said goodnight, Ginny giving Harry a kiss on the cheek, and I climbed the stairs to the girls' dorm with Ginny and Parvati. As Parvati and I were the only Gryffindor girls repeating seventh year, we now shared a dorm with Ginny. Because one of the girls had died in the other two hadn't returned to Hogwarts, we had it all to ourselves. Our trunks, Crookshanks, Ginny's Pygmy Puff and Parvati's owl were each in their cages and on our beds. I crossed the room, let Crookshanks out of his cage and sat down. Ginny had taken Arnold out of his cage and he now sat on her shoulder while she was rummaging through her trunk. Parvati had opened the window and her owl flew out the window. Silently, she turned and sat on her bed, but I could tell she desperately wanted to ask me about Draco.

"Go ahead," I told her, "Ask me whatever it is you want to ask me."

She looked apprehensive but when I smiled she said quickly, "Are you going out with Malfoy?"

That was _not _what I was expecting. "What? No! We're just," I paused, "I don't even know if we're friends!" Ginny had stopped going through her trunk and was watching me.

Parvati looked doubtful, "But… the way he looked at you…"

"What d'you mean?" I asked, not having noticed anything.

"Well…" Ginny seemed nervous. "He was kinda staring at you and he barely glanced at any of the rest of us."

I frowned, I hadn't noticed that either. "Well, even if he did, we're not going out!"

"I believe you!" Parvati hesitated, "Maybe he just likes you or something."

That surprised me. Draco Malfoy having a crush on me was ridiculous. He'd spent six years of his life trying to make my life hell, leaving no doubt in my mind that he hated me. He couldn't change his mind that much that quickly. "I don't think so," I said slowly, "Just because he's being nice doesn't mean he likes me."

"Okay," Parvati changed the subject, "What about you, Ginny? You and Harry seem to be going well."

"Yeah," Ginny smiled now, "Everything's great."

She and Parvati started talking about Harry and other boys leaving me to think carefully about whether or not Draco really did like me, which I still didn't believe, and, more importantly, why the possibility made me happy. I didn't like Draco. I was willing to give him a chance but I was still uncertain about even being friends with him.

The next morning Parvati, Ginny and I headed down to breakfast with Harry and Neville, where Professor McGonagall was handing out timetables. Harry, Ginny & I were both taking defence against the dark arts, charms, potions, herbology and transfiguration. I was also taking arithmancy. Neville was taking defence against the dark arts, charms and herbology.

"What subjects are you taking?" I asked Parvati once McGonagall had handed us all our timetables and moved further down the table.

"Defence against the dark arts, charms, transfiguration, divination and astronomy," She replied and I tried not to roll my eyes at divination.

"Cool we have defence, charms and transfiguration together," I said, "What do you have first?"

Parvati checked her timetable. "Divination, what do you have?"

"Arithmancy, how about you guys?" I asked, turning to Harry, Ginny and Neville.

"We have a free period," Neville said, looking pleased.

"Oh," I said, "What are you gunna do?"

"Ginny and I are gunna go to the Quidditch pitch," Harry answered. He smiled at her and she grinned back.

"And Luna and I are going to the lake," Neville said happily.

"That sounds fun," I said. It was a little difficult being around happy couples after Ron and I broke up and I was very glad that Parvati was here.

"Well I better go, it takes a while to get to Divination," Parvati picked up her bag, waved to us and then left.

"So Harry, when are you having Quidditch trials?" Neville asked.

"Um, probably on Saturday afternoon," He responded. The two then started a talking about Quidditch. Ginny turned to me with her mouth open, about to say something, when something over my shoulder caught her eye.

"What is it?" I asked, about to turn around.

"Malfoy's staring at you," She said still looking, discreetly over my shoulder.

I turned around and looked behind me, just in time to see Draco quickly turn to Zabini and ask him a question. I turned back around to see Ginny smirking.

"Maybe Parvati's right," she said. "Maybe he does like you."

"Who likes Mione?" Harry said, having overheard us.

"No-one," I said.

"Draco Malfoy," Ginny said, smirking at me.

"What?" Neville asked.

"He does?" Harry looked stunned.

"No he doesn't," I said to Harry, before turning to Ginny and telling her, "And he _wasn't _staring at me."

"Well of course he stopped when he saw you turn around," She rolled her eyes.

"Ginny, he's just being nice! He doesn't like me," I said exasperatedly. "Look I've gotta get to class, I'll see you guys at lunch." I stood up and grabbed my bag, waving goodbye as I left the great hall.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Hermione's POV**

I walked back towards the great hall after arithmancy feeling very happy. It felt so good to be back at Hogwarts, especially after everything that happened last year. Professor Vector had given us quite a bit of homework, but I didn't mind. I'd be able to get it done in no time and I absolutely loved arithmancy. Just before I reached the door to one of the Charms classrooms the door opened and Draco walked out.

"Oh, hi Hermione," he looked surprised but happy to see me. "What'd you just have?"

"Arithmancy," I smiled, "Why're you only just leaving?"

"Oh, Professor Flitwick wanted to see me." We began walking back towards the Great Hall. "So are you enjoying your first day back?"

"Yeah, absolutely!" I said happily. "I'm so glad to back, especially after… y'know… last year." I was a bit nervous about mentioning the war, knowing it would bring up bad memories for him too. I think I saw his smile falter a bit, but other than that he still seemed happy.

"Yeah I am too. So what classes are you taking this year?" He asked me.

"Defence against the dark arts, charms, transfiguration, herbology, potions and arithmancy. How about you?" I noticed Draco seemed more comfortable talking than he did yesterday.

"Charms, potions, defence against the dark arts and transfiguration."

We had now reached the great hall and I noticed Harry, Ginny and Parvati watching us curiously. However, when I looked over at the Slytherin table, Zabini didn't look surprised at all. On the contrary he looked smug. "Well," I said, looking back a Draco, "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah, I'll see ya later."

Draco smiled and walked away while I made my way down the Gryffindor to where my friends were sitting. I sat down next to Harry, well aware that they were all staring at me, and added a couple of sandwiches to my plate.

"What were you two doing?" Ginny finally asked.

"We were just talking, I ran into him on the way back from arithmancy." I said, making sure I sounded perfectly casual.

"What about?" Parvati asked.

"I dunno, school, classes, not much really."

"What was he like?" Harry asked me. Harry was the only one who seemed curious about Draco, not me and Draco.

I turned to Harry and smiled, "He seemed nice and he was being really friendly. He seemed like he really was interested in what I had to say."

"So you think he really has changed?" Harry seemed both hopeful and doubtful.

"I do," I replied seriously.

"Well I still think he wants a little more than friendship," Ginny said.

"Why?" I asked.

Parvati was the one who answered. "How about the fact that you're the only one he's spoken to."

"I'm the only one he's run into!" I said defensively.

"I guess," said Ginny, "But isn't Harry the one he should be asking forgiveness from? He's the one who saved him!"

"True, but he hated Harry more than he hated me."

"That's true," Harry admitted.

"Look I don't know if he likes me or not and I don't really care!" That was a lie. I really wanted to know. "But either way he's changed and I'd appreciate it if you gave him a chance.

"I think he's changed too," Ginny agreed, "I just think he likes you a little more than the rest of us."

"Me too," agreed Parvati.

"Thank you," I said, "Come on, we've got to go to defence against the dark arts."

"We have it with the Slytherins, so you two can ask Malfoy if he likes Mione yourselves," Harry said and Ginny and Parvati laughed.

But Draco and Blaise only made it to defence against the dark arts a minute before the bell, so, to my immense relief, my friends couldn't interrogate him. I didn't put it past Ginny to ask him if he liked me. I still wasn't sure how I really felt about him. I was still a bit nervous that he'd go back to being a jerk, but he seemed so sincere. And I felt so comfortable around him and, once we got over the awkwardness, he seemed as though he'd be very easy to talk to. I wasn't sure if I wanted to like him, though. I didn't want to set myself up to get hurt again. I didn't think I'd be able to handle it so soon after Ron. But I also knew that I had stopped thinking about Ron so much since Draco had started being nice to me. But that didn't really mean anything. I was probably just getting over it. At least that's what I told myself.

I was very impressed with Professor Clarke. She didn't underestimate us the way most teachers did. She also wasn't worried about scaring us when she demonstrated or described the dark arts. But not in the psychotic way Barty Crouch Jr. had been. However, she was also kind, funny and interested in what we had to say. She was very interested in what Harry had to say, but didn't press him if he started to look uncomfortable. The lesson was mostly theory but she kept the class engaged the whole time. She didn't give us any homework, which only made everyone like her more. When the class was dismissed Ginny, Harry and I said goodbye to Parvati and headed off to Potions. Draco and Zabini had made a detour so Ginny had had no chance to interrogate him, but I was well aware that he was also in our potions class and feared she would probably catch him after class.

When Ginny, Harry and I entered the dungeon classroom, Professor Slughorn expressed his pleasure that we had all returned and how lucky he was to have the three of us in his class. Thankfully the bell rang soon after and we sat down. I didn't dislike Slughorn and, if I was honest, I was flattered that I was one of his favourites. I had no doubt that he would host more of his "Slug Club" parties this year, but also thought they would be much more enjoyable this year. Ron was no longer here to be jealous, though I had a feeling he would've gotten an invite this year, so Harry wouldn't wriggle out of them for his sake. Therefore I'd probably enjoy myself with Harry and Ginny. One of the best things about Harry and Ginny was that they could be completely in love without making you feel like a third wheel. I did feel like that sometimes, but usually only when I was particularly upset about Ron.

Once the lesson had finished we all gathered up our things and I followed Ginny out the door with Harry at my side. To my dismay I saw her make a beeline for Draco, who was talking to Blaise a little further ahead of us. Harry and I hurried to catch up, just in time to hear Draco and Zabini, who both looked pretty surprised, say hello and then wait for Ginny to say something. I tensed, positive that she was about to ask Draco if he liked me.

But instead she asked, "Do you two want to join us outside?"

**Thanks for all the support, it means a lot **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Draco's POV**

I was shocked. Surely Ginny Weasley hadn't just invited us to hang out. I glanced at Blaise who looked just as surprised. Ginny was still smiling amusedly at us, clearly having expected our reaction. Harry and Hermione, who were standing behind her, also looked surprised and a bit confused. Unless I was imagining it, Hermione also looked a little relieved, though I had no idea why. Then I remembered Ginny was still waiting for an answer. I wasn't about to turn down an invitation to hang out with Hermione.

"Uh, okay," I sounded uncertain and looked questioningly at Blaise. He wanted to start new with these guys too and surely he wouldn't ditch me. He nodded to Ginny, now looking confused.

"Great," She was still smiling. "We've gotta go dump our stuff at Gryffindor tower but we'll see you in the courtyard in five minutes?" We nodded again. "Great! Come on you two!"

Still looking confused Harry and Hermione followed her out of the dungeons. I turned to Blaise, "Do you have any idea what that was about?"

"Nope. You?"

"No idea," I thought for a moment, "Hermione probably told them about our conversations, though."

"Not to mention you went out of your way to say hello to her in front of all of them," Blaise smirked at the memory.

"I didn't go out of my way! She was right next to me!"

"Sure sure," Blaise laughed, "Come on let's get rid of our stuff and go meet them."

Five minutes later Blaise walked outside to the courtyard. We looked around for a minute then saw Ginny wave at us from where she and her friends were sitting near a tree in the middle of the grounds. Harry and Hermione were with her and so was Parvati Patil. I was again surprised at how much she was hanging out with them. I'd thought Hermione found her annoying. They were all sitting down but, when Blaise and I reached them, we hesitated.

"You can sit down," Hermione said kindly, smiling at us. We sat down but still didn't say anything. This was much more awkward than when it was just me and Hermione. Hermione apparently couldn't think of anything else to say and neither could any of her friends. There was something I needed to say and, even if it was difficult, surely it would be better than the awkward silence and would probably impress Hermione a little.

"Look, I'm uh… sorry… for how I treated you guys," This was harder than I thought and they were all looking at me now. But when Hermione smiled I was able to go on, "And thank you," I looked at Harry, "For saving my life."

Harry smiled slightly then said, quietly, "Thanks for not giving us away when we got caught."

"I'm sorry too," Blaise mumbled.

After that the mood lightened considerably. We were nowhere near best friends but we definitely like each other a bit more. We made small talk for a while and then the group broke up. The Gyriffindors returned to their common room and Blaise and I were about to return to ours until I noticed Hermione was lagging behind. I gave Blaise a meaningful look and he walked off, smirking. I approached Hermione slowly, not sure what to say.

She smiled at me and, encouraged, I said, "D'you wanna walk with me?"

Her smile widened, "Sure."

We set off in the direction of the lake. Partly to make conversation and partly because I was really curious I said, "I didn't know you and Parvati were friends."

"We weren't. But Lavender was her best friend and she, uh… didn't survive the war." I hadn't known that. "And so Parvati's a bit more… serious now and she's really nice when she's not giggling all the time."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"I guess, I just felt sorry for her, so I asked her if she wanted to hang out. And we're pretty good friends, considering it's only been a day." We walked in silence for a minute and then she asked me, "I didn't know Blaise was your best friend. I thought…" She stopped talking and I guessed she'd been about to mention Crabbe and Goyle. She'd been there when Crabbe died, but obviously hadn't remembered at that moment.

"Yeah, he is. No-one else came back anyway, but Blaise is… interesting," I laughed. "He's the only one you can have a decent conversation with."

"What about Pansy?" She asked, "She came back."

"Pansy's just… so annoying. And she's pretty boring to hang around."

Hermione smiled. I guessed she agreed with me. "I thought it was something to do with her being your ex-girlfriend."

"Pansy was never really my girlfriend," I said. "We just… had fun sometimes." I instantly regretted saying that, not wanting Hermione to think I was that kind of guy. Then I remembered I _had been_ that kind of guy. But she was still smiling. "I think Pansy still wants to… have whatever we had, though. So that's just another reason to avoid her."

We walked in silence for another few minutes, occasionally talking, before Hermione stopped and turned to me. "I really admired you for apologising to everyone earlier, it must've been hard."

I was stunned, "Th-thanks."

"And I also wanted to thank you for not giving us away when the snatchers caught us. If you had we'd probably be dead now." She looked down for moment. "Can I ask… why didn't you? Voldemort would've rewarded you; it would've made things easier for you."

I hesitated; I'd been waiting for someone to ask me this. "Well… even if he did it wouldn't have lasted. I didn't like the way things were, I wanted him to die, I wanted my life back. But I couldn't stand up to him or turn traitor or anything because they'd kill me and my parents. I knew you three were the only hope to destroy him, so I couldn't let you die." I paused. "And I didn't want you to die anyway." Hermione looked a little bit surprised but her smile grew. We stared into each other's eyes for a little while and I wanted so desperately to touch her, to hold her, maybe even to kiss her. I was certain she'd be able to see it in my eyes, but I couldn't look away. Suddenly she quickly looked down and I wondered if she _had_ seen it in my eyes.

She hesitated then said quickly, "Well thank you again. I've, uh… gotta go get ready for dinner… I'll see you later." And she quickly ran off. Now I was positive she'd noticed. If Blaise had she would, she was so smart. Man, I'd blown it now. She wouldn't even want to be friends with me now she knew I liked her. God, I screwed things up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Hermione's POV**

Oh my God. I was falling for Draco Malfoy. I had realised it when I was staring into his gorgeous grey eyes. I really hoped he hadn't noticed. I reached the portrait of the fat lady, gave her the password then climbed through the portrait hole. Checking my watch, I realised I only had a couple minutes before dinner and raced up to my dorm. Ginny and Parvati were there waiting with grins on their faces.

"So," Ginny said, "How was your romantic stroll through the grounds?"

I had to resist sticking my tongue out at her. "First of all it wasn't romantic." Parvati rolled her eyes and Ginny said, "Sure," sarcastically. "It wasn't," I said, even though I probably wouldn't have minded if it was. "We were just talking!"

"Okay, I believe you," Parvati said, even though I could tell she didn't really but wasn't going to press me, seeing as we hadn't been good friends for long.

Ginny, on the other hand, had been a best friend for ages and wasn't worried about pissing me off. "Well no matter what you were doing, he still likes you!" She paused, "And I think you're pleased about that."

My jaw dropped, damn Ginny was good at noticing how I felt! I quickly closed it. "I don't even believe he likes me, so why would I be pleased about it?" That was half true; I didn't think he liked me, he probably wouldn't even want to be friends if he realised how I felt, but I would probably be pleased if he did.

"Oh, come on!" Ginny exclaimed, "It's so obvious that he likes you!"

"Just because he's being friendly, doesn't mean he likes me!" My voice had risen.

Ginny looked like she was about to retort, but Parvati quickly said, "We should probably get to dinner. You guys can finish this later, 'kay?"

"Okay," Ginny surrendered.

We went back downstairs and Harry joined us in the common room. When he walked over to Ginny and took her hand. I watched his face as he did so, something I hadn't done for a long time. He was smiling happily, at her and his eyes shone. You could tell, just by looking into his eyes that he loved Ginny. I hoped I hadn't looked like that with Draco today. I quickly decided I wouldn't have; Harry loved Ginny and I was only beginning to develop feelings for Draco. I though back to when Ron and I were together. He'd looked at me affectionately but… he never looked at me the way Harry looked at Ginny. I suddenly realised that that didn't make me as sad as it would've done a few days ago. Before I'd returned to Hogwarts, just thinking about Ron hurt and I'd tried not to think about him at all. Now I thought about him less and less and it didn't hurt nearly as much. Oh God, I was falling for Draco quickly. I tried to remember the way _he _looked at me. Everyone, meaning Ginny and Parvati, was certain he liked me but I couldn't remember him looking at me that way. It was probably because hardly any boys looked at me that way, though more were recently. I tried to remember how Victor had looked at me, but it had been three years so I couldn't remember details.

Harry, who was walking beside me, interrupted my thoughts, "Mione?" I was pretty sure that wasn't the first time he'd said my name. "What're you thinking so hard about?"

"Oh, nothing," I said, trying to smile casually at him. Harry didn't buy it, he knew me too well.

"You were thinking about Ron, weren't you? Harry guessed.

Ever since Ron and I broke up, Harry had been sympathetic to both of us and tried not to take sides. He'd done so very well and was still extremely close to both of us, but I was pretty sure he thought Ron had made a mistake and was on my side. I was also pretty sure that Ron thought so to, which was why he and Harry, who were still close, hadn't talked as much recently. I knew Harry was sad about that, which made me even more grateful to him for being such an amazing friend. I didn't want to lie to him but I also didn't want to admit I was thinking about Draco in front of Ginny and Parvati. I was going to tell them all, but I wanted to tell Harry first. I also couldn't handle the smug look Ginny would give me right now.

"Uh… Yeah," I said.

Harry gave me a sympathetic look, "Do you think if you talked to him you guys could-"

I cut him off, "No." He'd asked me that question several times before and my answer had always been the same. Before it was because I was being stubborn but now I wasn't sure if I wanted to get back together. I wanted to work things out and become friends again, but I had a feeling we needed more time to get over each other before we did that. "I'm… getting over it." Harry looked surprised but pleased. I got a bit of a knowing look from Ginny but it was nothing compared to what it would've been if I'd said I was thinking about Draco.

We'd reached the Great Hall and, as we made our way down the Gryffindor table, I glanced at the Slytherin table. Blaise and Draco were sitting next to each other, talking. Draco hadn't seen me yet but Blaise smiled and I smiled back. I was starting to like Blaise a bit; I at least didn't hate him anymore. He said something to Draco and I quickly looked away. I still wasn't sure if Draco knew and I wasn't quite ready to find out. We joined Neville and started adding food to our plates.

"Hey guys, where were you this afternoon?" Neville asked, swallowing a mouthful of chicken.

I hesitated; I wasn't sure how people were going to react about Draco. Then I remembered Neville already knew a bit about Draco's friendliness, but Harry had already answered, "We were hanging out with Ma-Draco and Blaise."

I was pleased that Neville, who had just taken another bite of chicken, wasn't so shocked or disgusted to choke. He looked surprised though and asked, "How was it?"

"Awkward," Harry summed up.

"Oh, come on," Ginny said, "It wasn't _that _bad!"

"Yeah," Parvati backed her up, "After they apologised everything was fine!"

"They _apologized_?" Neville was more surprised than I thought.

"Yeah," I said. If I didn't say anything it would be suspicious.

"And by the way," Harry said, turning to Ginny, "I still don't know why you asked them to hang out with us."

"I told you," Ginny said innocently, "I was giving them a chance."

"Okay then, I still don't know your ulterior motive," Harry smiled amusedly at her.

"Well that's for me to know," She winked at him.

"Do I get to find out?" Harry asked.

"Maaybe," Ginny said cheekily.

I was glad when Neville to me and Parvati and asked us more about Draco and Blaise. Harry and Ginny flirting wasn't that bad. And it no longer made me that upset about Ron. It _did, _however, make want to have that sort of relationship with Draco. I wasn't that happy about how fast I was falling for him. I couldn't stand getting hurt so soon after breaking up with Ron.

I looked over at the Slytherin table. Draco had been watching me and our eyes met. He looked hopeful about something. I was nervous as I studied his expression. I was looking for anything that might suggest he knew I liked him. I didn't find anything, so I started looking for whatever it was that made Ginny and Parvati think he liked me. I wasn't sure what I was looking for but I couldn't see anything. He looked happy and smiled at me, the hope I'd noticed before was gone and I was beginning to wonder if I'd imagined it. I reminded myself to smile back; I'd probably offend him or freak him out if I kept mindlessly staring at him. Harry nudged me and I turned away from Draco and looked at him. There was a questioning look in his eyes. I heard Ginny, Parvati and Neville talking about the new defence against the dark arts teacher, I hadn't realised I'd tuned out their voices. Everything in the hall suddenly seemed louder.

Harry leaned over and whispered, "What's up? What were you staring at?"

"Oh, uh, nothing." I said quickly.

He didn't believe me. I never thought he would. "Hermione, I know you, something's up. Tell me what's going on." He was still whispering and I appreciated that.

I never thought I'd be able to keep this to myself for long. "I will. Just… not here. Later, Please."

"Okay," Harry said, "We've got a free period tomorrow, before lunch, d'you wanna meet me then?"

"Okay." I smiled. It would be nice to have some time alone with Harry. We hadn't had much since the war.

Harry nodded and joined the conversation. I glanced quickly at the Slytherin table. Draco was talking to Blaise again but was still watching me. I smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Draco's POV**

I was very relaxed as I ate breakfast, more relaxed than I had been in a long time. Hermione and I were on good terms, maybe even friends, and, after watching her at dinner last night, I'd realised she didn't know I liked her. I was also on reasonably good terms with a few other Gryffindors, and was surprisingly happy about that. Once I'd realised I liked Hermione, part of me wondered if that was the only reasoned I'd wanted a fresh start with her friends.

Blaise interrupted my thoughts, "I think I can guess who you're thinking so hard about." He seemed to find my interest in Hermione very amusing.

"Shut up," I told him, "What's so funny about it anyway?"

"Just that it took you so long to realise."

That surprised me, "How long have you known?"

"Since you told me what your aunt did to her."

"What? That was months ago! Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well because it was during the war, so it would've gotten you killed. If you didn't realise it, you were safe." I was kinda touched that Blaise had protected me like that, not that I'd ever admit it. "And after you were distracted, what with everything about your parents going on, and you hadn't seen or spoken to her so I forgot about it."

I didn't like thinking about my parents much. My father was still in jail, but he was getting out soon. My mum hadn't been sent to jail because, apparently, Po-Harry had defended her. I hadn't been able to ask my mother about that though. It was an unspoken rule at home that we didn't speak about the war. Part of me was glad my father wasn't around. Things were bad enough without him around. My mother wasn't coping with her guilt and grief very well. She put on a brave face around me, though. But one of the reasons I wanted to come back to Hogwarts was to get out of that house. It was depressing and had bad memories. Mother wanted to sell it but it was in father's name so she had to wait until he was released.

Blaise had noticed the sudden drop in my mood and changed the subject. He knew my family was a touchy subject. "I never imagined _you _falling for Hermione Granger, of all people."

I smiled slightly, but it hadn't been the best distraction. "She's pretty different now, anyway."

"I know!" Blaise said "She looks so different! She looks good, though."

That was the understatement of the century, in my opinion. Hermione had changed her appearance a lot over the summer. I almost didn't recognize her when I ran into her on the train. Her hair was no longer bushy, but rather straight with a few waves. There was more to it than that but girl's hairstyles weren't my area of expertise. I also noticed that she seemed to wear some make-up now but it looked natural. None of the fake stuff Pansy used. Her clothes had changed too. She now wore things that compliment her body instead of covering it up. Now that she didn't wear so many layers I'd noticed she had a great body. But even though also these changes made her look drop-dead gorgeous, I'd finally realised, now that I was past my former prejudices that had clouded my vision, that she'd always been good-looking.

But instead of saying all that I told Blaise, "Yeah she looks great."

He laughed, "You've gotta be careful though."

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

"Well you're not the only one who's noticed. You've got a _lot _of competition."

My expression darkened, "Like who?"

Blaise shrugged, "No one specific, just notice that a lot of guys are checking her out nowadays. That Hufflepuf guy, especially. What's his name? MacMillan?"

"Ernie Macmillan?" It took me a while to remember his first name.

"Yeah him." When I didn't say anything Blaise added, "What, no "He's no competition for Draco Malfoy"?

"He didn't make her life hell for seven years." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but he doesn't seem like the type to ask her out when this many guys are into her and when she's not giving him any special attention." He gave me a meaningful look as he said the last part.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I mean even if she hasn't realised yet, people are gunna notice with all the time you spend staring at her when you're not actually with her." I groaned to myself, was I that obvious? "It'd be better for your reputation if you asked her out before everyone figures it out."

I looked down at my plate, "I don't really care about my reputation anymore, man. Not that there's anything good left."

Blaise tried a new angle, "Well it's the manly thing to do."

I sighed, "Just let me get to know her a bit first, okay?"

"Okay." He said.

"Thanks, I gotta go to class. I'll see ya later."

I got up and left the table as I walked away I heard Blaise mutter to himself, "I'll try a new tactic then."

He obviously hadn't meant me to hear that. I turned back around slowly and followed his gaze. He was looking to where Ginny and Parvati were sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Oh _shit_.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Hermione's POV**

I walked over to the edge of the black lake, where I was meeting Harry. I was really excited to spend some time with just him. He was around nearly all the time but we hadn't had much time for just us recently. I sat down on the bank and stretched out, watching the sun on the lake. I had missed Hogwarts so much. I looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw Harry making his way over.

"Hey Mione," He said sitting down next to me and dropping his bag on the ground.

"Hi," I beamed at him, "What's in there."

"Homework. I thought this could be like old times." He paused, "Well sort of anyway."

I smiled. I knew Harry probably really didn't want to do homework, so I appreciated it even more. Thankfully I had my bag with me too.

"I'd like that," I said. "I miss how easy everything used to be."

"You mean when we weren't saving the wizarding world?" Harry laughed, then his expression sobered. "Yeah I miss it too."

We both just stared at the lake for a few moments, remembering all the times we'd spent here together. Of course things hadn't been so peacefully for years.

"But you've gotta admit," I said, trying to lighten the mood, "It's nice to not be looking over our shoulders or worrying about Voldemort."

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, it is."

Harry and I set to work of our homework for a while after that. It was nice to do something normal with my best friend.

"It's so much nicer doing this when it's not due tomorrow," Harry said. I laughed.

I had completely forgotten why we'd arranged this time together until Harry asked, "So what is it you wanna tell me?"

I stopped smiling as the memories flooded back. Even though Harry was accepting Draco, I could tell it was difficult for him. I wasn't sure how he was going to react to what I had to say but I wanted him to be the first to know. That didn't make telling him any easier, though.

Harry saw my hesitation and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. "Mione you can tell me," He said, looking me in the eyes, "It won't change what I think about you or how I feel about you."

I sighed. I might as well get it over with. "I… I think I like… Dr-Draco," I whispered, not looking at Harry.

"Oh," He said. He didn't sound angry or disgusted, he just sounded… calm. I looked at him and he smiled at me. "Hermione I don't care who you like. I just want you to be happy. And considering Ma-Draco's not an ass anymore, he's probably got as good of a chance as anyone. Just," He hesitated, "Just be a bit careful. Just in case."

I smiled and then gave Harry a big hug. He seemed a bit surprised but then put his arms around me. Considering what he could've said, "be careful" was amazing. He probably would've said that about anyone, and I already thought I needed to be careful with Draco, anyway.

I pulled away and thought of something. "You don't seem that surprised."

"I'm not as good at recognising this stuff as you, but I'm getting better. I saw you looking at him yesterday, and I didn't know you like him but it made it less surprising.

"Oh God," I groaned.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Well, no offense, but if you noticed Ginny and Parvati definitely noticed!" I told him.

Harry laughed, "Well, yeah, I guess so. Don't you want them to know?"

"Not exactly, I'm going to tell them I just don't want them to make a big deal out of it."

"You mean like yesterday at lunch?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, that wasn't the only time either; they talk about it in our dorm a lot."

"Well what I heard didn't seem too bad," Harry said slowly.

"That's because they don't know I like him!" I said, Harry just didn't understand these things.

"Oh yeah, they just think Draco likes you." Harry paused. "They could be right, y'know."

"I don't think so."

"Maybe not, but he'd be stupid not to." Harry smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Thanks Harry."

Harry took my hand again. "Ginny and Parvati might talk a bit at first, but it's probably just because they're happy for you. You've been pretty upset since you and Ron broke up and I know Ginny's worried about you. But if you want me to say something to her, I will."

"Thank you," I said, "Maybe just tell to ease up a bit."

"Sure," Harry said.

We went back to our work and after a few minutes Harry said, "I'm done!" He saw my still writing and said, "Oh my God, I finished before you!"

I laughed, "This is my Arithmancy homework, I already finished our Defence stuff."

Harry started laughing with me. Afterwards we walked back into the castle, just in time to see Ginny, Parvati and Blaise walk into the Great Hall together.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Blaise's POV**

I watched as Ginny Weasley and Parvati Patil got up from the Gryffindor table and headed out of the Great Hall. Grabbing my bag, I quickly followed them out. Once they'd headed down an empty corridor, I caught up to them.

"Hey!" I said catching Parvati's shoulder.

"Wh- Oh! Hey Blaise," She said, surprised.

"What's up?" Ginny asked curiously.

"I need to talk to you two," I paused, "In private."

Parvati looked confused but Ginny immediately looked inside the closest classroom door.

"C'mon, it doesn't look like this room's been used in years," She said poking her head back outside.

I walked inside and, after a moment's hesitation, Parvati followed.

"So," Ginny said, sitting on the teacher's desk, "What d'you need to talk about?"

I paused. I hadn't thought about how I was gunna ask them about Hermione's feelings or tell them about Draco's. I didn't want to just blurt it out; I wouldn't betray him like that. Unfortunately, I realised they weren't likely to do that to Hermione either.

"Blaise?" Parvati asked.

"Umm…" Oh God now I looked like an idiot. "I was just wondering um…" I tried desperately to think of something.

Ginny's face suddenly lit up, "Is this about Draco?" She asked, excitedly.

Damn, girls were good at this sort of thing. "What about Draco?" I hedged.

Parvati had obviously caught on. "About Draco and a certain young lady we know." She said, walking towards me.

"Who would that be," I asked her. There was a flirtatious edge to my voice that hoped they didn't notice.

Ginny hopped of the desk and walked towards me too. "A friend of ours, you know perfectly well who. He likes her doesn't she?" Ginny asked, a huge grin on her face.

They had me and we both knew it. "Yeah," I caved. At least I hadn't told them, they'd probably already guessed. It wasn't my fault; he was the one who kept staring at her.

Parvati giggled and Ginny said, "I knew it!"

"How long have you known?" I asked, wondering just how obvious Draco had been.

"A while," Ginny said.

"We guessed after the welcome feast when he went out of his way just to say Hi to her." Parvati added.

"That's the main reason I asked you two to hang out; I wanted to watch him and she if he liked her, which he totally does!" Ginny explained.

"I was wondering why you did that." I admitted.

"Well I'm also giving you guys a chance but I wanted to know." said Ginny.

"Me too," agreed Parvati.

"Thanks," I told them.

"So what'd you want to know?" Ginny asked.

"Uh, I was just wondering how, uh, Hermione… felt." Oh shit, this was so awkward.

Ginny hesitated, "Um… why?"

"Well… I've been trying to, uh, convince Draco to, y'know, ask her out." I was desperately wishing I'd never started this conversation. "But he doesn't think she would after… the past few years." Great. Now I'd made things more awkward by reminding everyone we hated each other a couple months ago.

"She's forgiven him!" Parvati said.

"Yeah," Ginny added, "She accepts him and likes hanging out with him."

"But she doesn't like him," I guessed.

The girls hesitated and glanced at each other.

"She _does _like him?" I asked.

"We don't know," Parvati admitted. "She won't tell us."

"I think she might," Ginny confessed. "I'm pretty sure she'd give him a shot if he asked."

"Yeah," Parvati agreed.

"Look we'll talk to her," Ginny said.

"Okay," I said. "But why would you do that for us?"

"Because," said Ginny, "I think they'd be good together and I want her to be happy."

"But," I was a bit confused, "wasn't she going out with your brother? Don't you want them to be together?"

"My brother's an idiot and Hermione would be happier with Draco." Ginny said.

"What happened with them, anyway?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too," Parvati said, turning to Ginny.

"Um," Ginny said nervously, "It's complicated… well not really, they just… didn't work out as a couple."

"Okay," I said. I didn't really expect them to tell me all their business when we'd only just become… kinda friends.

"So…" I said searching for something to talk about. I didn't really want to keep talking about relationships but I couldn't think of much else so I asked Ginny, "How're you and Harry going?"

"We're really good." She smiled.

"What about you?" I asked Parvati. "A pretty girl like you, surely you have a boyfriend."

"No, not really," she said. "I hooked up with this one guy in France, but I didn't really want a long distance relationship."

"Nah, they suck," I agreed. "So where is your idiot brother anyway?" I asked Ginny. "I figured he'd come back if Harry and Hermione did… or if Harry did."

"He got offered a job at the Auror office." Ginny said, "So did Harry and Hermione, but they want to finish school first."

"I wouldn't," I said.

"Hey, you came back, didn't you?" Parvati pointed out.

"True," I said. "But I didn't have a great job offer."

"No," Parvati said, "You just have a mansion, a house elf and can do whatever you want! Why on earth would you come back to school? You were here last year!"

"Yeah, but there are people here. I'm all alone in that big house. I'd rather be with my friends." I reconsidered that. "Friend."

"Hey, we're your friends!" Parvati protested.

"Thanks," I smiled.

"What about your family?" Ginny asked.

"I'm an only child, my dad's dead and my mum is either travelling, out all day and night or with her dumbass boyfriend," I said.

"Oh," Ginny said.

"Sorry," Parvati said.

"Don't worry about it, I'm used to it." I said. I did _not _want to talk emotional stuff.

Parvati checked her watch, "We should probably go. It's lunch time."

We left the classroom together we made our way back to the Great Hall. We had just reached the doors to the hall when we heard a shout behind us.

"Guys!" Hermione and Harry walked over to us. "What've you been doing?" They asked.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Hermione's POV**

Ginny, Parvati and Blaise were just about to walk through the door to the Great Hall. I was shocked and a little worried. I was really glad my friends were making an effort but I was worried that this was about Draco and me.

Harry noticed them too. "Guys!" He called out. He headed towards them and I quickly followed. "What've you been doing?" He asked.

"Nothing," Parvati said, vaguely.

"We've just been hanging out," said Blaise.

"Yeah," Ginny said, "Just been getting to know each other."

"Oh, uh, okay," I said. I'd need to press Ginny for the details later. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah," Parvati said, "It was very, um, interesting."

"Right…" Harry said. He was just as confused as I was… probably more confused.

"Well, I've gotta go meet Draco," Blaise said. Oh God I hoped they hadn't been talking about us. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Bye," Parvati said, as he turned and entered the Great Hall.

"So," Ginny said, avoiding my eye, "Let's go eat, lunch is nearly over."

With that Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and walked quickly into the Hall. Harry stumbled and then followed her, looking confused.

I turned to Parvati, "You wanna tell me what's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing," Parvati shrugged. "Ginny's just really hungry. C'mon we've only got a few more minutes till we've gotta go to class."

I had to admit, as I followed Parvati down the Gryffindor table, she was a good liar. But I knew there was something going on so I decided to hold off on telling Ginny about my feelings for Draco. I still trusted her… mostly, I just wanted to wait and find out what she was talking to Blaise about. I really wanted to talk to her about Draco though. There were some conversations I just couldn't have with Harry. I didn't like keeping secrets from her but… she was too. I really hoped I could talk to her soon though.

"What're you thinking so hard about?" Ginny asked me. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I hadn't realised we were already halfway to the Charms classroom.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just thinking," I mumbled, still wrapped up in my thoughts.

Ginny looked concerned, "Are you okay, Mione?" She asked. "You know you can talk to me anytime, right?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling at her. "I might take you up on that. But later, we don't have time now."

"Okay," She said. She the re-joined the conversation she, Harry and Parvati had been having while I'd zoned out.

We made it to the classroom just as the class were taking their seats there were only four seats left. Three of them were in a row at the back of the room and the other one was next to Draco and Blaise.

"Uh, you guys can take those," I said pointing at the three seats, "I'll sit with them."

"Okay, we'll see you after class," Harry said, taking Ginny's hand and pulling her away before she said anything.

I took a deep breath and walked over to Draco and Blaise. "Is it okay if I sit here?" I asked.

They looked up. "Yeah, that's fine," Draco said, pulling back the seat next to him.

"It'll be nice to have all the answers right in front of us," Blaise joked, as I sat down.

"Yeah, but under the bad influence of you two I might not pay attention today," I teased.

Draco laughed and opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Professor Flitwick began the lesson. The first half of the lesson was theory and I was surprised that Draco and Blaise actually paid attention most of the time. The second half of the lesson was practical. That part was fun and I was surprised that I got along with Blaise and Draco as well as I did with my other friends. It was just like it had been with Harry and Ron before the war. When I turned around I noticed Ginny and Harry watching me. Parvati was too, but not in the same way. Parvati looked amused at Draco, Blaise and I mucking around but Harry and Ginny looked so happy… and relieved. When they noticed me they both smiled warmly then went back to their work. I turned back around just as Professor Flitwick set the homework and dismissed us. I gathered up my books in my bag and stood up. I hadn't notice Blaise go but suddenly it was just me and Draco.

"That was really fun," He said smiling at me.

"Yeah it was," I agreed.

"So, uh… the homework Flitwick set is kinda long and so I was wondering if you might want to meet up later and do it together?" He asked.

I smiled, "Why, do you want to borrow my brain?" I asked.

He laughed and it sounded beautiful. Until recently I'd never heard him laugh. I'd heard him smirk or laugh _at _people, but this laugh was different, warmer.

"You might not have noticed but I'm not stupid. I'm actually pretty good in school I just never felt like answering questions." He admitted.

That was a surprise, "Why not?" I asked curiously.

I was disappointed to see his smile fall. "I spent most of my time making fun of you for being smart, I wasn't going to admit that I was too." He said, looking down.

"Well I'd love to meet up later," I said, breaking the awkward silence. "When were you thinking?"

He looked up and his smile was back, though his eyes were still a little sad. "Um, I have a free period tomorrow afternoon, what about you?"

"Yeah, do you want to meet in the library after lunch?" I asked.

"Sure I'll see you then." He smiled.

Suddenly Blaise reappeared.

"Hey, where'd you go?" I asked him. I was really starting to like Blaise.

"Oh I had to ask Flitwick something then I was talking to your friends." He said smiling.

My face darkened slightly at that, I was still suspicious about what they were talking about. I was surprised that Draco looked worried too.

"That reminds me I need to talk to you," He said, glaring at Blaise. "Sorry Hermione, do you mind?" He asked. His smile was back when he looked at me.

"No, that's fine," I said. "I need to find Ginny anyway. I'll see you guys later."

Draco waved and I left the room. The corridor was deserted so when I closed the door behind me, I could still hear the hushed argument coming from inside.

**Thanks for everyone's support **

**Sorry it took so long!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Draco's POV**

I waited a few seconds after Hermione had left the room before rounding on Blaise. "What were you talking to Ginny and Parvati about?" I hissed. Even though I was pretty sure we were alone I didn't want to be overheard by people passing in the corridor.

I expected Blaise to deny anything out of the ordinary but instead he said, calmly, "You and Hermione."

"You told them?" I asked, trying desperately to keep my voice down.

"No! I wasn't going to sell you out!" He said, keeping his voice low, too. "I just planned on finding out how she felt about you."

I started to relax but then realised something and said, "But?"

"Well her friends weren't going to sell her out either. But when I was trying to think of something to say, they guessed."

"Guessed what?" I asked, cautiously.

"That I was there to talk about you and Hermione. They already knew you like her… well guessed anyway."

Oh crap. I thought Blaise had guessed because he was my best friend and knew how to read me, but if Ginny and Parvati knew I must be pretty damn obvious. If Ginny and Parvati knew… so would Hermione. Shit!

"Does she know?" I asked, urgently.

"I'm not sure. But I think they told her they think you do."

I groaned. This was getting worse.

"You're not going to ask what they said about her?" Blaise asked, amused. "I thought that'd be the first thing you wanted to know."

My head snapped up. "They told you something?" I asked.

"A little," Blaise said.

I waited then said, "Well?"

"Okay so she's fully forgiven you for everything you did and she likes hanging out with you."

That was good news. I had wondered whether or not she forgave me for my past. But it wasn't huge news. "And?" I asked Blaise when he didn't say anything.

"And," He paused, "She _might _like you."

My hopes soared when he said that, but I reined them in before I got carried away. "Might?" I asked.

"They're not sure," Blaise admitted. "Ginny says she won't talk about it but she thinks it's possible. They think she'd say yes if you asked her out."

This just got better and better but I didn't have anything concrete. I could also sense that Blaise was about to try and convince me to ask Hermione out and I wasn't ready yet. "This is only what her friends think, though," I pointed out. "They could be wrong."

"Draco you need to have more confidence in yourself," Blaise sighed. "You don't need to be the arrogant git with an ego the size of the sun that you used to be," Blaise smirked, "But having no self-confidence isn't attractive. There's no reason she wouldn't want to go out with you."

"It's not that, it's just too soon," I explained. "We've only just become… kinda friends."

"Okay then, wait. That's fine," Blaise said. "Just don't wait too long or you'll just stay friends."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "What about your love life?" I asked, changing the subject. "Who've you got your eye on?"

"No-one," He said, "_I _don't spend my time obsessing over a girl."

"No," I agreed. "You obsess over _girls_."

"I do not!"

"Yeah you do. You pick the hottest girl you can find and entertain yourself for, I don't know, a month."

"Well maybe I want something a little more, now," Blaise said. "I'm not gunna fall in love, like you, not yet anyway. But I want a little more. I just hope that some of the hot girls are interesting."

"You never change," I laugh. I know it's not true, though. We've all changed.

**Sorry it took so long, I've had no internet access for the past couple of days.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Hermione's POV  
**

I turned away from the Charms classroom, not wanting to eavesdrop on Draco and Blaise's argument, and made my way to the Gryffindor common room. Ginny would know I was looking for her and why, but I doubted she'd avoid me. She knew I'd find her eventually and she might as well get it over with. Either that or she had nothing to hide, which I doubted.

I climbed through the portrait hole and scanned the room. Neither Ginny nor Parvati were there. Harry was with Neville, Dean and Seamus, which meant that they were probably in our dorm. I waved to the guys as I passed and climbed the stairs to our dormitory and opened the door to find Ginny and Parvati sitting on the couch that had been added to our room, since there were so few beds.

"Hey Mione," They said in unison.

"Hi," I said sitting across from them, on my bed.

"What's up?" Ginny asked.

"You know what's up," I told her. "What were you two talking to Blaise about?"

"Nothing much," Parvati said, casually. "School, summer… we were just talking."

Ginny said nothing which I took as proof that Parvati was lying.

"Ginny," I said, giving her a look.

"Don't bother," She told Parvati, "She knows that's not true, she'll find out eventually and she probably already can guess what we were talking about."

"How could she?" Parvati asked. "We weren't obvious at all."

"Because I know Ginny," I said with a smile. "And she knows me, which is why she's not going to put off this conversation." Ginny smiled at me before her expression turned nervous. "You were talking to Blaise about Draco, weren't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Parvati said. "You and Draco."

"What did you tell him?" I asked, worried.

"Nothing much," Ginny said, "You haven't told us anything worth mentioning."

"No," I agreed, "But you've got theories worth mentioning."

"We didn't go to him to talk about you," Parvati said. "He came to us."

That was new. "He did?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Ginny said with a smile, "He wanted to know how you felt about Draco."

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"Because Draco likes you!" Parvati squealed.

"I told you," I began, but Ginny cut me off.

"Blaise says it's true," she said, with a smug smile. "Draco told him."

"He did?" I whispered in shock.

"Yep," Parvati said.

"But," I protested, not believing it.

"Mione you can't deny it anymore, we've got proof," Ginny said, triumphantly.

"What else did he say?" I asked them.

"He asked how you felt," Parvati said, "because he's trying to convince Draco to ask you out."

My heat rose. Everything was still so uncertain and this was all happening so quickly but there was still a chance that Draco and I might be together.

"What did you tell him?" I asked. I hadn't told them I liked Draco yet but that wouldn't stop them from saying I did. Especially when they thought I did.

"We said you hadn't told us anything," Parvati said. "But that you forgave him and liked hanging out with him."

"And I said that I thought you'd say yes if he asked," Ginny added.

I wondered what I would say if he asked. Even though I was sure I liked him, everything was happening so fast and there were so many things I was unsure about. But whenever I was around him, I forgot about all that. I'd say yes, I decided.

Parvati stood up and interrupted my thoughts. "I've gotta go to the library to find something for divination," she said. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

She waved and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ginny got up from the couch and joined me on my bed.

"Are you annoyed with us?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No," I said, "I'd thought things had happened differently."

"Did you have fun in charms?" she asked.

"Yeah," I smiled. "I had a great time."

"Good," Ginny said. "It was nice to see you so happy again."

"It was nice to be happy again," I laughed. "It was so easy… like it used to be."

"Yeah," Ginny hesitated. "Just don't forget about us. It'll get easier again."

I looked at Ginny, shocked, and then hugged her. "I could never forget about you guys." I said quietly. "You guys make it easier too."

Ginny laughed and then pulled away. "So what where you and Draco talking about after class?" she asked. She wasn't as excited or loud as before. She just sounded curious.

"Harry talked to you, didn't he?" I asked.

"Yeah," Ginny said. "I'm sorry if I was pushing you earlier. It's just that you've been so down lately, especially after Ron, and I just liked seeing you so happy."

"No, it's okay," I said. "I was just confused and you'd already guessed what I still hadn't realised and… I dunno… but you have nothing to be sorry for."

Ginny smiled at me. "Does that mean you _do _like Draco?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, it just took me a while to admit it. I didn't want to set myself up to get hurt again.

"I don't think he'll hurt you. I think you two would be good for each other," Ginny said. "You seem happier now and I think that's partly because you've got some space from Ron, but mostly because of Draco."

"Yeah, I think so to," I admitted.

"So, what're you gunna do now you know he likes you?" Ginny asked.

A few seconds passed as the words sunk in _he likes you_. "I'm not going to act different, in case it stops him asking... if he asks. I guess we'll find out tomorrow," I said.

"Tomorrow?" Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, we're going to the library to do the charms homework together," I told her.

"Oohhh, a study date," Ginny teased.

I laughed. "Maybe."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Hermione's POV**

2 hours to go.

An hour and a half.

An hour and a quarter.

I was counting down the minutes to my study date with Draco. I knew I was obsessing but I couldn't help it. I was still incredibly nervous but whenever it got too bad I thought about charms with him yesterday and how easy it had been. Then I remembered that this time it was just me and Draco and I started freaking out again. _Get a grip, Hermione_, I told myself. I was losing it. I was in herbology and, for the first time in my life, was barely paying attention. Harry, Ginny and I were in herbology and doing… something to… a plant. Or at least, they were. I was standing, staring into space and probably looking like an idiot.

"Psst," Harry whispered, breaking my trance, "Sprout's coming."

I leaned over and then hesitated, "Uhh… what are we meant to be doing again?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, just go and get us a bowl."

I walked over to the cupboard, smiling at Professor Sprout as I passed her. She smiled back, completely unsuspicious. That was one of the good things about having such a good reputation. I grabbed a bowl and walked slowly back to Harry and Ginny so that Professor Sprout was well out of earshot when I got back. I handed Ginny the bowl and checked my watch. Only fifteen minutes until lunch. We'd be packing up soon, then lunch, then… the study date. I wondered, for the billionth time, if Draco would ask me out. I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted him to or not. Of course, I'd say yes if he did. But I was still worried that he might go back to his old self. I hated myself for not trusting him and believing him but he'd only been like this for four days! It was only Wednesday! It seemed like a lot longer, but it was only four days. It seemed too good to be true. Everything good in my life was currently being ripped away from me, it would make sense for this to end well too. It might even be a joke! The old Draco would've found it hilarious to get me to fall for him and then leave me on my ass. _Stop it_, I told myself. I was getting paranoid. I had to trust Draco. The _new_ Draco. But I knew that, even though I was crazy about him, I wanted him to wait before he asked me out. I wasn't ready to give my heart to someone again. Not yet.

I was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Harry and Ginny, a few minutes away from my meeting with Draco. Parvati was with Dean and Seamus and, even though I really liked her, I was glad to have some time with just Harry and Ginny. It hadn't been just us three in a long time. After Ron and I broke up, they'd taken turns hanging out with me and Ron so we wouldn't have to spend too much time together. I appreciated it, especially right after we broke up, but I wanted to stay friends with Ron. It would be hard and probably a bit awkward, but we'd been through so much together and I still loved him, I just wasn't _in love_ with him anymore. And I missed him… sort of. I missed the _old _him. The one before the war and before us.

"Hermione?" Ginny waved her hand in my face.

"Huh? What did you say?" I asked.

Ginny and Harry just laughed at me so I threw a carrot stick at each of them, and then joined in laughing.

"So what are you two going to do for your free period?" I asked, once we'd all stopped laughing.

"We're doubling with Neville and Luna," Harry said.

"Yep," Ginny grinned, "We're having a picnic."

God, I was so out of I hadn't even noticed they weren't eating. The warning bell rang, and the last few students, who didn't have a spare, got up and left the hall. I jumped and blushed. I waited for the crowd to thin before I got up.

Harry was waving Neville and Luna over, but Ginny leaned towards me and said, "Good luck! Meet me in the common room after and tell me everything."

"I will," I whispered back before picking my bag up and walked towards the entrance hall.

Draco met me at the door. "Hey," he said, smiling.

"Hi," I smiled back. The last few butterflies left my stomach as we made our way to the library.

**Next chapter's the study date Do you want Draco to ask her out?**

**Sorry it always takes so long but I'm hoping the next one will be up soon.**

**Thanks again for all the support!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Draco's POV**

Hermione and I took a seat in the back corner of the library and pulled out our books. Neither of us had said much but she was smiling and looked comfortable so I didn't think it was a bad sign. We started working and I hoped she was impressed by my work, but it was nothing in comparison to hers, so I doubted it. For the first couple minutes we worked in silence, only talking about work. It was nice, but the main reason I'd invited her here was that I wanted to get to know her better.

"So how was your summer?" I asked. I immediately regretted asking her that. Her summer must have sucked. I did see her smile falter slightly but it didn't go away, to my relief.

"It was okay," she said, "considering the circumstances. Harry and I rented an apartment together close to the burrow. Most of the Weasley's were staying there so it was pretty crowded and we figured it would be helpful to give them some family time."

My stomach twisted. Of course, Fred had died in the final battle. I felt guilty about everyone who died but I half missed Fred Weasley. When they weren't directed at me, I actually found his and his twin's pranks funny. Not that I ever admitted that.

"I'm sorry," I said. Both our smiles were gone now. "How're they doing?" I asked. "Ginny seems okay."

"Yeah, she's dealing with it," Hermione agreed. "But she's strong so she doesn't let people see how much it hurts her. I still hear her cry in at night sometimes. I guess the others are accepting it. George is the one I worry about, though. He's depressed and I know the only reason he makes it through each day is because Fred would want him to. I just hope he gets better over time… Percy and Ron feel a bit guilty because we were there." I could tell from the tone of her voice that she felt a little guilty as well.

I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "It's not any of your faults," I said, looking into her eyes.

She smiled. "It's not yours either, Draco," It was weird the way she knew what I was feeling. "Your parents made a mistake and you didn't have a choice." She squeezed my hand.

"There's always a choice," I muttered.

"Draco you did what you did to protect your parents and if you hadn't done what you did, things might've ended differently," Hermione told me, firmly.

"If I hadn't done what I did, Dumbledore might still be alive," I whispered. "Snape was on your side he only killed him because of me."

"Draco if you hadn't accepted the task, you and your family would be dead, Voldemort," I flinched slightly, but the name was affecting me less and less, and for different reasons. Hermione carried on, "would've assigned someone else to the job and then the elder wand might've become his. Dumbledore was going to die around the time he did anyway."

This cheered me up slightly.

Hermione hesitated and then said, "I'm sorry about your father."

"It's fine, he'll be out of Azkaban in a month," I wasn't sure how I felt about my father anymore. I loved him… sort of, but I was still angry at him for the choices he made.

It felt weird that Hermione knew so much about my parents and I didn't know anything about hers. "What about your parents?" I asked, "Did they come and stay with you and Harry or…" I stopped talking when I saw the look on her face. Oh crap. I hadn't heard anything about her parents, but I hadn't exactly been listening for news. "They're not…" I couldn't finish. I couldn't make her hear the words if they were true.

Hermione shook her head, but a tear rolled down her cheek. "No, they're alive," she said. "I mean as far as I know." She closed her eyes, and wiped her tears away. I was dying to know what had happened to them, but I didn't want to pressure her, so I waited, still holding her hand. She took a deep breath and said, "I modified they're memories before the war. They don't know they have a daughter and they moved to Australia." Even though it was making her upset I couldn't help but be impressed with her magic. "I meant to go and find them but, after the war I couldn't just leave everyone so I stayed. But after Ron and I broke up, I looked for them for a couple of weeks but I couldn't find them and I can't help feeling guilty for not looking for them sooner and feeling like I abandoned them and," She shuddered and another tear rolled down her cheeks, "I _miss _them… so much."

Hermione closed her eyes and let the tears roll down her face. I pulled my chair closer to hers and slowly put an arm around her, so that she could throw it off if she wanted to. Instead she leant into my shoulder and let the tears stream more quickly. I carefully rubbed her back and we sat in silence for a while. A couple years ago I would've hated a girl crying anywhere near me, let alone on my shoulder. But given part of me had half wanted to cry into someone's shoulder for a long time, I didn't mind anymore. After a minute or two, Hermione sniffed and pulled away, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"Sorry," She mumbled.

"It's fine," I told her. "And you did nothing wrong. You did everything right. The death eaters probably did go to your house. You just did what you had to do to protect them. And you _will_ find them."

"Thanks," she said.

We stared at each other for a moment then and I knew if Blaise could see us he'd be telling me to kiss her, but… I couldn't. It would feel like taking advantage of her. If we ever got together I wanted it to be and happy moment.

"So much for doing homework," I said, breaking the silence.

Hermione laughed and then blushed, "I've, uh, actually finished."

I laughed, "Me too. We got a lot of work done earlier."

"Yeah, we did," Hermione agreed. She began to pile her books together. "I'm really sorry, but it's getting late and Ginny wanted to talk about something before dinner."

"No, it's fine," I said, getting my stuff together as well.

"Okay, well I had a good time," she said. I raised my eyebrows. "I did," she insisted. "It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, you too," I smiled.

"Maybe we could do this again, sometime?" she asked. My sprits rose and I nodded. "I promise to talk about something less depressing, next time."

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "And if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

She smiled. "Thanks, same for you."

I smiled. We both stood up. I hesitated then gave her a hug. I loved the feel of her in my arms and, boy did she smell good. My arms felt empty when we pulled away. She smiled then walked out of the library. When she reached the door she turned back and waved and then she was gone.

**I know some of you were looking forward to this chapter, so I hope it was okay. Thanks again for all the support and if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know **


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**Hermione's POV**

"Oh my God, that is so sweet!" Parvati said.

I, with help from Ginny, was filling Parvati in on my study date with Draco, while we were walking to breakfast. Harry, who hadn't needed any details other than "it went well" had decided to walk down with Dean, Seamus and Neville. I was pretty sure Dean and Seamus would be interrogating about me and Draco though. By now lots of people had noticed Draco and I hanging out. Draco obviously wasn't speaking to many people because no-one seemed to know he was turning over a new leaf. Therefore a lot of people either thought I was stupid or turning over to the dark side. Very few people, other than Slytherins (who still didn't interact with the other houses very much), suspected that Draco was being nice so that wasn't a theory. I was offended by the rumours, but they weren't very popular; everyone knew how highly unlikely they both were. Even so I'd gotten a few glares mixed with the stares of admiration I'd been getting lately. I knew Draco and Harry got worse but I still didn't like it. The worst were the groups of gossiping girls who whispered and glanced at me when I walked past, as I was sure they were speculating about Ron. At least the stares and rumours were all coming from the younger students, which meant they were easy to avoid. The older students had had their priorities adjusted by the war, but they still gossiped a bit.

Ginny, Parvati and I made our way over to Harry, Neville, Dean and Seamus. The other two were still analysing my study date with Draco but, after having done so with Ginny at least three times last night, I couldn't be bothered joining in. We sat down just as the post owls arrived. I hadn't gotten anything this year, other than a letter from Mrs Weasley for Ginny, Harry and I, and I wasn't expecting anything. My parents… wouldn't be writing anytime soon, and I doubted Ron was ready to. However, when we sat down, Pigwidgeon was eating Harry's bacon rinds and Harry was reading a letter. He glanced up and then placed it on the table, so that Ginny and I could see too.

Harry,

How're you doing? Things at work are tough but it's pretty cool. It's weird you not being here, though. I'm still got training and tests and stuff, but not as many cus I was invited, so that's awesome. The new head of office isn't nearly as cool as Kingsley but he's alright. How's it at Hogwarts? Is much different? Who's the new DADA professor? I still can't believe you willingly went back to classes. How's Ginny doing, is she okay? I hope Malfoy's not being a git, but if he is tell him to go join his father in hell.

-Ron.

P.S Tell  
How's Herm

P.S Tell Hermione I said Hi.

**(Anything underlined in Ron's letter he crossed out.)**

I looked up to see Harry and Ginny both looking at me, concerned.

"I'm fine," I said.

I couldn't pretend that only getting a P.S and the crossing out didn't hurt, but it wasn't too bad or unexpected. On the contrary, the thing that bothered me most was Ron's comment about Draco. I wasn't sure how Ron would take the news about Draco. I doubted he'd react well or even believe it when he wasn't here to see it. He'd probably go on about him playing us and I didn't want to hear the many arguments he'd come up with. It was hard not being 100% certain Draco had changed without Ron giving fuel to my fears.

Harry pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing a reply. When he was done he handed the quill and parchment to Ginny. She wrote a few lines and then passed the note to me. So far it said:

Ron,

It's good to hear from you. Things at the ministry seem good. Do you see Kingsley much? How's he doing? Hogwarts is pretty much the same but it's great to be back. The new defence professor's called Clarke and seems fine. Classes are kinda hard but they're good. Quidditch tryouts are on the weekend and I can't wait. Malfoy's fine. He's being nice and we're kinda getting to know him and Blaise Zabini. Neville, Dean and Seamus say Hi. Tell your family I said Hi and I hope they're doing okay.

-Harry.

Dear Ron,

Things are great. I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me. There aren't many seventh/eighth year Gryffindor girls so Mione, Parvati and I get a room all to ourselves and some more furniture. I like the new professor. Draco and Blaise are our _friends _and if you know what's good for you, you'll leave them alone. Luna and Parvati say Hi. How's George? Is he any better? Good luck with your tests and training.

Love, Ginny x

I had my quill in my hand but couldn't write. I was starting to understand how difficult things had been for Ron. I wanted to him I missed him and wanted to work things out so we could be friends again. I wanted to say I was moving on and he had my blessing to move on too, if he hadn't already. I especially wanted to tell him to back off Draco. But I couldn't. Instead I just wrote:

Good Luck – Hermione.

**I tried to use different fonts for the handwriting but it didn't work. I also tried crossing things out in Ron's letter but that didn't work either.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**Draco's POV**

I walked happily into Defence Against the Dark Arts, looking forward to seeing Hermione again, and hoping she'd sit with me again. Yesterday had gone really well, apart from getting onto depressing topics, and I couldn't wait to spend more time with her. However, when Blaise and I entered the classroom, Hermione was sitting in the back corner of the room with her friends. I smiled at her, but she didn't see me because she was staring at her desk. Other than being slightly disappointed that there were no seats near her I didn't think much of it. Not until halfway through the lesson. By then I'd noticed that Hermione wasn't taking notes, not that she needed to, and wasn't paying much attention. She wasn't talking, or even looking at her friends, which she usually did when she wasn't paying attention. She wasn't smiling, she just kept staring at her desk. I also noticed Harry and Ginny shooting her concerned looks. I was starting to get worried. When the lesson ended, Hermione, who hadn't pulled out any of her books, left the room, leaving her friends staring. Harry and Ginny still looked concerned, but Parvati just looked surprised and a little confused. Ginny made to follow her but Harry held her back. I quickly tossed my stuff in my bag and left with Blaise, trying not to make it obvious that I was following Hermione. Once we were out of the room, I told Blaise I had somewhere to be and he left with a knowing smile. Then I realised I had no idea where Hermione was or where she went when she was upset. I really hoped she hadn't gone to Gryffindor tower. I didn't think she would, it's probably crowded there and she seemed to be avoiding her friends. I considered checking the library but I wasn't sure if she'd go there either. It was probably crowded too. I now realised how little I really knew about Hermione. Harry probably would've already found her if he'd gone after her. I considered waiting and talking to her later, but I was worried. I started walking just in case Harry or Ginny found me and tried to convince me to leave her be. I was headed anywhere in particular so I soon found myself in a deserted corridor, full of what appeared to be unused classrooms. I checked the doors, just in case Hermione was in one. I was listening for the sound of her crying, so I nearly missed her in the last classroom. She was sitting with her legs tucked up, leaning against the wall, behind the teacher's desk. She wasn't crying and her eyes were dry. But she still didn't look happy. I quietly walked inside, shutting the door behind me. I walked over and sat down next to her. She gave me a small smile but didn't say anything and stayed where she was.

We sat in silence for a while before I asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "I'm fine."

I hesitated then said, "You don't seem fine."

She smiled, "I'm not upset… exactly. I just have stuff I've gotta think about and work out what I'm gunna do."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked nervously. I wasn't sure what you were supposed to say in this sort of situation.

"I dunno," Hermione mumbled, resting her head on the wall.

"Well, if you do, just let me know," I told her, looking into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Thanks," She whispered.

We sat in silence for a while, then Hermione started talking again.

"Ron sent Harry a letter this morning," She said quietly.

I hesitated; I wasn't overly keen on talking about her ex-boyfriend. "What'd it say?" I asked, finally.

"Nothing much," Hermione said. "He talked about working at the ministry and asked about Harry and Ginny and Hogwarts."

I thought I saw the problem now but I didn't like it. "What about you?" I asked.

"He said 'P.S Tell Hermione I said Hi.' After crossing it out a couple times," She muttered.

Weasley was an idiot. How could he have even let her go in the first place? I could tell she still missed him and the thought made me sick. But I still cared about her and wasn't going to leave her upset, not like he did. So, reluctantly, I said, "I'm sure you guys could work things out." That was a lie. I didn't even know why they broke up. But that usually makes people feel better.

Hermione interrupted my thoughts, which were now wondering why they broke up. "I don't want to get back together with him, if that's what you mean." I tried to make sure I didn't smile but I was beaming inside.

"Then, what's wrong?" I asked once I'd gotten over my excitement.

"I just… I miss him," She said. That sobered me up. "I don't want to be with him but… we were friends for years and… I miss it. But I don't know how we get past this, we can't even write to each other. I tried replying to his letter with Harry and Ginny and I only managed two words!"

I waited, but it seemed Hermione had let it all out so I said, "I've never been in your situation so I'm not gunna try to give you advice," I hesitated, "But I don't think you can work this out through letters. You need to talk to him." I really didn't want Ron around, considering he'd probably be a major barrier if I asked Hermione out, but I wanted her to be happy.

Hermione looked into my eyes and then laid her head on my shoulder. "Thank you, Draco," She whispered.

I don't know how long we sat there. Maybe it was a few minutes or maybe a few hours.

I didn't want it to end but I knew it had to. "You should go find Harry and Ginny," I said, "They're worried about you."

Hermione lifted her head off of my shoulder. "Yeah you're right," She said, but she didn't move. She just looked at me. "Thank you," She said, "For being there."

"Just let me know whenever you need me there, and I'll be there," I said, gazing into her eyes. God, I could stare at here forever.

She smiled then turned to pick up her bag. I stood up and held out my hand. She smiled again, took it and let me pull her up. We stood facing each other for a second, then she leaned in a kissed me on the cheek. After that everything turned into a blur but I registered her mouth "Thank you" before she left the room, leaving me with my hand on my cheek.

**Sorry I haven't been updating lately! I'll try to update consistently. Any comments, advice or request are always welcome **


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**Hermione's POV**

I walked through the corridors with my fingers resting absentmindedly on my lips. I was thinking about the kiss I gave Draco. I hadn't even meant to do it but he was being so sweet and I couldn't help myself. I wished I was still alone in that room with him. Nobody would've found us for hours. And he really made me feel better. He was surprisingly supportive for someone who used to make my life hell. I now knew that I had to stop doubting him. He was really trying and if it weren't for him I'd still be miserable about Ron and probably crying my eyes out about his P.S. right now. I thought about heading back to see if he was still there but he was right; Harry and Ginny were probably worried.

I looked around me and realised I'd made my way back to the common room without noticing. I gave the password to the fat lady and then climbed through the portrait hole. There was a small crowd around the notice board. I was about to check it out, until I noticed Harry and Ginny sitting on the couch together. Seeing as they'd probably already read the notice I walked over and perched on the arm of the couch.

"Hey you two," I said.

"Hermione!" Harry started.

"Where've you been? Are you okay?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine I was with Draco." I said. I pointed toward the notice board, where the crowd was gradually dispersing. "What's that all about?" I asked.

"Oh it's about Hogsmeade," Harry said.

"They posted the dates already?" I asked. "That was fast."

"No it's saying that anyone repeating seventh year or anyone who missed seventh year can go into Hogsmeade on weekends as long as they're back by 8," Ginny said, sounding excited.

"That's awesome!" I said. I hesitated, but then asked, "But why are you excited? You aren't repeating seventh year."

"Seventh years are allowed to go if we get permission from a teacher and are with older students." Ginny beamed.

"Oh, cool!" I said, smiling.

"Yeah, a bunch of us are going this weekend," Harry said.

"Great, but… don't you have Quidditch tryouts?" I asked.

"That's in the morning, we're meeting up at about 4:30," Ginny said.

"Remember sixth year?" I asked them. "Tryouts went for hours because Harry was captain and that was before the war."

Harry looked annoyed but Ginny said, "Don't worry Parvati and Luna and hopefully you are gunna help me sort through whoever shows up and get rid of anyone not in Gryffindor." Ginny and I laughed but Harry still looked annoyed.

"So what positions are you filling this year?" I asked, changing the subject for Harry's benefit.

Harry's face immediately brightened at the talk of Quidditch. "A keeper and a chaser."

"That shouldn't be too hard," I said, but it sounded more like a question.

"Hopefully," Ginny said.

"So who's coming with us this weekend?" I asked.

"Dean, Seamus, Parvati and Neville and Luna," Harry said.

"Wow that's a lot," I said. I was really hoping I could ask Draco to come but I didn't want to be the one to bring him up.

"We should ask Blaise and Draco if they'd like to come too," Ginny said, giving me a knowing look.

"Yeah, that'd stop Seamus asking me if I'm sure they've changed every time I see him," I said. I made sure I sounded casual but I was secretly jumping inside. I was pretty sure Ginny saw through me, but I didn't care.

I planned on talking to Draco before or after dinner if I could catch him. Ginny and I went up to our dorm to change. Parvati was with Dean and Seamus so we were alone. When Ginny opened her mouth, I assumed she was going to ask about Draco, but she didn't.

"Are you sure you're okay, Mione?" She asked. She was still thinking about Ron's letter. Sometimes I forgot what a great friend Ginny was.

"I'm fine," I assured her, smiling.

"Really?" Ginny wasn't convinced. "I mean you didn't speak for ages after the letter and you just stared at your desk all through class and then you just walked out…" Ginny sounded really worried now, and I felt guilty for not talking to her sooner.

"I'm not upset, Ginny, I swear. The letter didn't really bother me that much," That was stretching the truth. "I've just got a lot to think about."

Ginny relaxed slightly and lay down on my bed with me. "You wanna talk about it?" She asked, gently.

I wasn't sure. I hadn't thought I did, but I felt better after talking to Draco. And Ginny was one of my best friends, she deserved to know, and it would stop her worrying so much.

"I don't want Ron back," I began, "but I do miss him. I miss the way it used to be with us. I miss having each other's back and just being friends. It'll never be like what I have with Harry but… I still miss it. I want us to work things out but I don't know how. I tried telling him that when I replied to his letter, but I couldn't."

Ginny put an arm around me and squeezed my shoulders. "I don't think you guys can work things out through owls."

I smiled slightly. "That's what Draco said."

"You talked to Draco about this?" She asked. She didn't sound excited the way she usually did when we talked about Draco. She might've sounded a bit offended, but Ginny didn't get jealous and she still just sounded gentle.

I made sure she didn't feel jealous anyway. "He found me when I left, earlier. I didn't say anything for a while but it was hard holding it all in."

"I knew he was following you." This time I could hear the smile and I felt relieved. "Did it help?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so. He was really sweet."

"You're worried about what Ron's gunna say about Draco, too though. And you couldn't tell him that." Ginny guessed.

I nodded. "I know Ron won't like it, you read his letter. And I don't want to hear all the reasons Ron will come up with about why he's being nice. I don't want him to tell me he's playing me."

"Because you worry about that anyway, don't you?" Ginny said.

I nodded again. I was getting past it, but I was still a little scared. Ginny gave me another squeeze then turned so she was looking me in the eyes. "Hermione he is _not _playing you! He _really _cares about you! It's so obvious; you can see it in his eyes. Do _not _let anyone tell you differently. Not Ron and especially not yourself."

I nodded. Ginny was such a great friend.

"So what else happened with you and Draco today?" Ginny asked. "I can tell there's something you're not telling me!"

I took a deep breath and smiled. "I kissed him."

"OH MY GOD!"Ginny screamed.

"No, no, no!" I said, quickly. "On the _cheek_!"

Ginny looked a little disappointed. "Oh… well that's still something," She smiled.

I nodded. I hesitated, making up my mind and then said, "I wanna be with him, Ginny."

**Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think, it's always nice to hear your feedback. **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**Draco's POV**

I woke up on Saturday morning nervous and excited. On Thursday morning, Hermione had invited me and Blaise to Hogsmeade with her friends. Things had been going really well with Hermione. Now Blaise and I sat with her and her friends in class and we were hanging out more and more. I found myself alone with her a lot, but still hadn't asked her out. Blaise kept teasing me about it and insisting that we flirted with each other all the time. I had noticed that Hermione was acting a little differently towards me; more forward. If things went well today I was hoping to ask her out.

Blaise and I met up with Hermione and Parvati after lunch. Everyone else was at the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts so it would be just us for a couple hours. As we walked to Hogsmeade, Blaise and Parvati hung back so Hermione and I were alone. Everyone was doing that a lot lately.

"So is everyone else trying out for the Quidditch team?" I asked Hermione.

"No," She said, "Just Dean. Harry and Ginny are on the team and the others just watching."

"Why aren't you?"

"I usually do," She admitted, "But Quidditch isn't really my thing and I usually just go to support Harry or Ron or because everyone else is there anyway. But today I'd much rather go to Hogsmeade with you… and Blaise and Parvati." She blushed. Hearing her talk about Ron always annoyed me but the last part made up for it.

I smiled at her. "Me too."

She smiled and then laughed. "Oh, you wouldn't be allowed to watch tryouts, that'd be spying."

I laughed, but a little half-heartedly. "Actually I'm gunna quit the team," I admitted.

Hermione looked taken aback. "But I thought you loved Quidditch," She said.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess… I just don't know if I wanna play on the house team anymore. I mean, my teammates hate me, and I don't hate the other houses anymore."

"Well, Harry liked Cho Chang and he still played against her," Hermione reasoned.

"Huh," I said, trying to change the subject, "I thought Pansy was making that up."

"I know you're trying to change the subject." Hermione saw right through me.

I sighed. "Sorry. It's just the team probably hates my guts either for who I was or who I am now. And I've only just started hanging out with you guys, and people take the competition really seriously and I don't want to,"

Hermione cut me off. "Look I know that practise and your team might be a little unpleasant sometimes, but that shouldn't stop you from doing what you what to do. And don't worry, as long as you don't knock anyone off their broom, we won't hold anything against you." She smiled at me.

"Thanks, Mione." I said, smiling at her. God, she looked beautiful.

She took my hand and looked into my eyes. I reminded myself to keep breathing. "Draco if you don't want to do it, that's fine. But if you do, you shouldn't let anything stop you."

I smiled at her. Neither of us had realised we'd stopped walking until Blaise and Parvati caught us up. Hermione and I dropped hands and continued walking, with our hands in our pockets. Every so often, I snuck a glance at Hermione and, sometimes, caught her looking at me. The first time I caught her she dropped her eyes and blushed, but the next time she held my gaze and smiled. We had just reached Hogsmeade when I realised that Blaise had been subtlety flirting with Parvati, every now and then, I hadn't been paying much attention, but I now recognized some of the techniques he used to use on Slytherin girls. Blaise had had a reputation as a bit of a player, but I really hoped that wasn't what this was about. I didn't think my best friend using Hermione's friend was something she'd be likely to overlook.

We spent the next couple hours in the shops. First we went to Honeydukes, where I learnt that Hermione mostly ate the sugar-free sweets, because she was brought up by muggle teeth fixers, but that she also loved sugar quills and liquorice wands. Then we went to the post office. No-one needed to send a letter, as they could just borrow a school owl or use their own, but the girls loved looking at the tiny owls for small deliveries.

After stocking up on quills, ink and spare parchment, we headed towards the Three Broomsticks to meet up with Harry, Ginny, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Luna. As we passed what used to be Zonko's Hermione stopped. She stared at the shop, which was still boarded up and sighed. Blaise and Parvati, who hadn't noticed, kept walking.

I doubled back, slowly. "Hermione? Are… are you okay?" I asked, quietly.

She nodded. "Yeah," she sounded sad.

"Are you sure?"

She turned to face me a sighed again. "Fred and George were going to buy this place," she said, waving her hand at Zonko's. "They didn't because Hogsmeade trips got cancelled after…" she stopped talking, but I knew what she was talking about. Hogsmeade trips were cancelled after I gave Katie Bell a cursed necklace. Even though things were going well between Hermione and I, every now and then, something would happen or someone would say something that reminded us of the past. Hermione cleared her throat and kept talking, "I always figured that after everything went back to normal, well _if _it did, they'd buy the place and I'd come in here with Ron and Harry and Ginny and we'd all have fun with the twins and… everything would be the way it used to be… or at least, I hoped it would."

I completely ignored the mention of Ron when I saw a tear roll down Hermione's cheek. I stepped forward and put my arm around her and then, when she didn't pull away, pulled her into my arms and hugged her. She gave a small sob and I felt the shoulder of my shirt dampen as a tear splashed onto it.

"You miss him, don't you?" I said.

Her arms tightened around me and I felt her chin press into my shoulder as she nodded. "Uh-huh," she whispered. "And worrying about George just makes it more difficult."

"How's he doing?" I asked.

Hermione laid her head on my chest and I rested my chin on top of it.

"Bad," She mumbled. "At the beginning he just sat in his room and he didn't eat or drink anything, then he started drinking and spent most of his time at the Hog's Head. He won't listen to anyone, he won't talk to anyone." My shirt was getting rather wet. "Ron said in his last letter that he wasn't any different but that he, Bill and Charlie were going to try and talk to him."

"Did he say anything to you, in the letter?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not really."

For a few more minutes we just stood there. Eventually Hermione's tears stopped and her breathing got back to normal. Then she pulled away and whipped her eyes on the back of her sleeve. "C'mon, we should get inside," she said, taking my hand and pulling me into the Three Broomsticks.

As we made our way over to the table our friends were sitting at, I was very aware that Hermione was still holding my hand. When we reached the table Hermione stopped dead as the red-haired and freckly face of Ron Weasley turned around, his eyes immediately focusing on our entwined fingers.

**Sorry I keep taking so long, schools started and I don't get much time to write this.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**Hermione's POV**

When Ron turned around I froze and, seconds later, I felt Draco stiffen beside me. As I watched, Ron zeroed in on my hand, which was still holding onto Draco's. My first impulse was to drop it, but Draco deserved better so I gave it a squeeze instead. Partly to offer him support, but mostly because I needed all the support I could get as I looked into the eyes of my ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend. I really wished I didn't have to call him my ex-best friend, but the look on his face said as much. Although I was pretty sure that was intended for Draco.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, once I found my voice. I was very aware that Harry, Ginny, Parvati, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Luna were all staring at me. Blaise was standing to the side with a tray of drinks. Unlike Parvati, who was standing next to him with her mouth open, he looked like he was trying to blend into the wall.

Ron was still glaring at Draco. "Harry mentioned you were allowed to come to Hogsmeade on weekends and I was looking for George, so I thought I'd stop by."

"How is George, is he okay?" I asked.

Ron shrugged, but otherwise ignored my question. "What are you doing here?" He said, glaring at Draco.

Finally someone else spoke up. "He can be here if he wants, Ronald!" Ginny growled. "He's our friend and I've already told you to leave it alone!"

"Friend?" Ron said in disbelief, "He's a Slytherin, son of a Death Eater, _actual _death eater," Ron was counting things off on his fingers.

"He saved our lives at Malfoy Manor!" Now the whole restaurant was watching, and it was making me uncomfortable.

Ron ignored my last comment. "You're here one week and you're already shacking up with Slytherins!"

That was a low blow. I froze again and I felt Draco tense up.

Ginny screamed, "Ronald!" with a murderous look on his face.

Harry, who was clearly upset by the confrontation, jumped up a placed a restraining hand on Ron's shoulder. "C'mon Ron, mate, you're causing a scene."

Ron shrugged him off and rounded on Harry. "You're sided with _him_?" he asked, incredulously.

This was getting out of hand. "Ronald," I said, in a surprisingly calm, but shaky voice, "Can I talk to you outside?"

Ron glared at Harry, Ginny and Draco but then stormed outside. I made to follow him but Draco didn't let go of my hand I turned and saw the worried look on his face. I smiled at him and, after a few seconds, he let go. I turned and followed Ron out the door.

It was raining outside but I could see Ron waiting at the edge of the Three Broomsticks, where there were no windows, leaning against the wall so as to avoid the rain.

I approached him slowly but, though I was certain he noticed me, he didn't move. We stood facing each other for a few, painful minutes until I couldn't take any longer.

"Hi," I said softly. So softly that I nearly believed him when he acted like he didn't hear me. "I've missed you," I said, louder.

He snorted at that. "Sure you have," He muttered, darkly.

"I have," I insisted.

"That's why you're all over Malfoy!"

"I'm not!" I insisted, "Draco and I are just friends!"

"Draco? Do you hear yourself?" Ron shouted. "He's playing you!"

I knew he would say that sooner or later. "No he's not." I said quietly.

Ron knew that he had struck gold. "Yes he is! I know it and you know it too! Or at least you suspect it!"

"No I don't!" I screamed. "Draco's been a far better friend to me than you have lately!"

"You broke up with me, Hermione! _You _ended things!"

"I broke up with you because we were a terrible couple and weren't a good boyfriend! But I miss you! The old you! I miss the way things used to be!" The rain was starting to get heavier and the wind was blowing it onto us, so by the time my tears started to fall, they just got mixed up in the raindrops.

"Things can't just go back to the way things used to be!" Ron said, his voice was a little quieter and I could hear the pain in it.

"Why not?" I asked. "Why can't we be friends again?"

"Because I want us to me more than that."

I hadn't expected that. Ron had never shown much regret over our break-up, not as much as I had, but I realised that had probably been out of stubbornness. When I'd started moving on over the past week I'd thought Ron had a long time ago. Before I knew what was happening Ron was kissing me. It was intense and desperate but not tender. I pulled away quickly, before I wouldn't be able to, and shook my head.

"Ron… I can't," I whispered.

His face darkened. "Because of Malfoy?"

"No," I insisted. "Yeah, I might have feelings for Draco but even if I didn't I couldn't take you back." That might not be true. I'd only started moving on when I'd seen Draco again, but now that I had I saw how bad our relationship had been. "I wasn't happy when we were together."

"Whatever," Ron muttered. "But don't expect me to feel sorry for you when you come crawling back after Malfoy dumps you."

With that he turned and walked away.

"Ron, wait!" I said following him out to the middle of the street and immediately getting soaked.

Ron turned on the spot and disappeared. I stood out in the rain for a few minutes until I heard someone walk up behind me. I turned around, bracing myself for whatever final retort Ron had come back to say but saw Draco.

"Hermione," He began, but before he could say anything else I buried my face in his chest and wrapped my arms around him. For a second he stood in shock then he wrapped his arms around me and rubbed his hands up and down my back. "Are you okay?" He whispered in my ear.

I didn't know what to say, I didn't even know the answer to his question. I didn't know whether to tell him about the kiss, part of me felt like that kiss had betrayed him, even though we technically weren't together. All I knew was that the longer he held me the more I felt better.

"Hermione?" Draco sounded worried now. "C'mon, you need to get out of the rain, you're shaking."

Draco pulled back slightly so that he could look at me. I looked at him and everything else melted away. I could no longer hear the rain pouring down but I could see the droplets on his eyelashes and in his hair. I could see then running down his face and his lips. He looked so handsome and I could see the concern and affection in his eyes. When I saw that, the last piece of my resolve crumbles and I kissed him. Draco didn't respond for a second and then he was kissing me back. It was loving and tender and everything I wanted it to be. I reached up with one of my hands and wrapped it in his hair. My other arm was clinging to him for dear life. He wrapped one of his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, while he stroked my hair with his other hand. The kiss started of gentle and tender then became more passionate, but it wasn't as rough as Ron's had been. This kiss was magical and romantic not angry. It was everything I'd imagined it would be and more. I could taste the rain on his lips and feel it in his hair. After what felt like hours we pulled away. He smiled at me, cupped my face in his hands and gave me one last peck on the lips. Then he pulled away, his hands still cupping my face.

"I love you, Hermione."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

**Hermione's POV**

I wasn't expecting that. I don't think Draco meant to say it either, judging by the look on his face. I had no idea what to say. I didn't know if I loved Draco or not. I knew that my feelings were more than just a crush and I knew that all my problems seemed to go away when he was there and I knew that I was becoming dependent of him… but I didn't know if I loved him. I didn't want to lie to him but I didn't want to hurt his feelings. While he was still in shock over what he'd said, and before it got awkward, I beamed at him, gave a small giggle, and then kissed him again. It wasn't as long as the first, or as passionate, but it was still sweet and tender and I could've spent the rest of my life in that kiss. When it ended I hugged him, partly because I loved being in his arms and partly to give myself time to collect myself.

Just as I pulled away Harry and Ginny ran out the door, they stayed undercover to avoid getting soaked, and called out our names. I'd completely forgotten that it was pouring down raining, but now realised I was shivering. Draco and I ran over and Ginny gave me a hug.

"Are you okay?" She asked, after she released me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, as Harry gave me a squeeze.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "I mean Ron looked really pissed and… geez, Mione, you're freezing!"

Even though I had realised I was shivering, I didn't feel cold. I felt warm inside.

"Here," Ginny said, and she performed a non-verbal spell to dry off me and Draco.

"Thanks, Ginny," Draco said.

"So, what happened?" Harry asked.

"Um, let's go inside or we'll get wet again," I stalled. I didn't want to talk about Ron and I'd hoped I could tell Draco alone.

The four of us walked inside and I was immediately crowded by the rest of my friends. At first I was glad of the distraction. At least until they all started to ask what happened.

"Look, guys," I said, knowing the question wouldn't go away on it's own, "We just had an argument, but I'm fine."

After a while, everyone realised that I didn't want to go into detail right now, and we all went back to our table and sat down.

Before everything between Ron and Draco had happened, I'd been really worried about what Dean and Seamus thought of Draco. I knew Luna and Neville were still a little doubtful, but I also knew they weren't likely to say anything. I noticed Seamus and Dean shooting Draco suspicious looks every now and then, but that died down, so Draco, and Blaise, must have impressed them.

Draco was sitting next to me and we were holding hands underneath the table. We'd glance at each other every so often and, even though he was smiling and looked happy, I could tell he was concerned about what Ron had said and wanted to talk.

While I was trying to think of an excuse for Draco and I to leave, given it was still raining and we couldn't go outside, Ginny stood up.

"I'll be back," she said, "I've gotta go to the bathroom… Mione, could you come with me?"

I knew she wouldn't take no for an answer, so I stood up and followed her to the ladies'.

When the door closed behind us, Ginny checked the stalls to make sure we were alone then turned to face me.

I'd assumed this was about Ron, but I was wrong. "What's going on with you and Draco?" She asked.

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"You two arrived hand in hand and have been staring at each other the whole time!" She said.

I blushed and looked down. I really wanted to tell Ginny everything but I didn't know where to start. "Look," I said, "A lot happened and I don't have time to tell you everything right now."

"Fine," Ginny agreed. "We'll talk later. Just give me a hint! Are you two together now?"

I said nothing but gave her a huge smile. Ginny squealed and I shushed her.

Parvati opened the door. "Are you two okay in here?" She asked, confused.

"We're great!" Ginny said. "We were just leaving."

When Ginny, Parvati and I had made our way back to our table, everyone was finishing the last of their drinks and standing up.

"We're gunna head back, while the rain's stopped," Harry told us.

"After all," Dean said, "We can come whenever we want now, so it doesn't matter if we don't stay long."

Dean and Seamus left first, with Parvati. I noticed Blaise frown when Parvati said she was going with them and then give her a rather warm goodbye. Neville and Luna said goodbye and then left hand in hand. That left Me, Draco, Blaise, Harry and Ginny. We all left the Three Broomsticks together. The rain had stopped but the sky was still pretty gloomy. The others spoke on the way back to Hogwarts, but I was too busy thinking. I noticed Draco wasn't talking much either; he was watching me. I'd decided that I wanted Draco to be the first to know about Ron and then I'd tell Harry and Ginny… and maybe Parvati. I didn't really want anyone else to know what Ron had said or, more importantly, _done_. I knew Ron wouldn't either but he'd expect me to tell Harry, Ginny and Draco. I didn't really care if Blaise knew or not, and figured Draco would probably tell him. I knew he wouldn't if I asked him to, but I didn't see the harm in Blaise knowing. I also wanted Draco to have someone, other than me, to talk to.

When we reached Hogwarts, Draco pulled me aside. "Can I talk to you?" he murmured.

Blaise winked at me, waved at Harry and Ginny, and then walked off in the direction of the Slytherin common room. Ginny grinned and began pulling Harry away. Harry looked confused, called out goodbye, then turned and followed Ginny before she pulled him over.

Draco and I stepped out of the entrance hall and into a hidden passageway, to avoid anyone overhearing us. When we were alone, Draco kissed my cheek and then put his arms around my waist. I blushed and looked down. When I looked up again, he looked concerned again.

"What happened, Mione?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. I knew what he was talking about and he knew I knew.

"He kissed me."

**Hope you enjoy! I really appreciate everyone's support!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**Draco's POV**

He kissed her... Gross!

I desperately tried not to think about the fact that I'd kissed her a minute later so it was almost liked I kissed h- Ew, ew GROSS!

I reminded myself that Hermione was waiting for a reply, but I didn't know what to say. Then I thought of something terrible.

"So was our kiss-" I started to ask slowly, but she cut me off.

"No!" She said, sounding horrified. "I wanted to kiss you anyway and I have for a while." She blushed and looked down, it was cute.

I smiled at her. She looked up and blushed again, she was so damn cute.

I reminded myself of the matter at hand. "So why'd he kiss you? What else happened?"

Her face fell. "We had an argument, he insulted you a lot," she looked annoyed and sad when she said that.

"I don't care what he says about me, Mione," I told her. "Did you tell him you wanted to work things out?"

She nodded, looking depressed.

"Is that why he kissed you?" I asked her. "Did he get the wrong idea?"

She shook her head. She looked so sad and confused, it broke my heart.

I lifted her chin with my finger so she was looking me in the eye, her eyes were moist. "Hermione, talk to me, tell me what happened," I whispered softly.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I told him I missed him and wanted to be friends again, but he told me we couldn't." I pulled her towards me and tried to give her a hug but she stopped me. She looked up into my eyes. Her chocolate brown ones looked so worried. "He said he wanted us to be together again."

_Shit!_

"Oh," I said and looked down. I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Draco, that doesn't change anything!" Hermione said hurriedly. "It doesn't change how I feel; I only want to be with you!"

My heart melted, but something still circled my mind: how did she feel about me? I knew she obviously liked me, but I didn't know the details. Was I a rebound? I knew I felt more for her than she did for me, I loved her. I hadn't realised it until I said it, but I knew it was true. I noticed she hadn't said it back, but I wasn't surprised. I was grateful she hadn't said anything, I rather that than have her lie to me.

She was looking at me, obviously worried about what I was going to say. I bent my head down and rested my forehead against hers.

"Mione I don't care what anyone says or thinks, not even Weas-Ron. I just want you to be happy."

I registered her smile for a second but then her lips crushed up against mine. I kissed her back, deeply. Damn, she was a good kisser, was there anything she couldn't do? I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist, holding her tightly against me. She wound her fingers though my hair and clung to me with her other hand. We kissed passionately for ages, I could kiss her all day, it felt so right. I was completely lost in the kiss and had forgotten were I was when the door of the broom closet banged open. Hermione and I leapt apart and she squealed. Filch stood in the doorway, wheezing.

"Inappropriate behaviour!" He yelled at us. I snuck a look at Hermione, she was as red as a tomato and looking at the floor. I tried not to laugh. "Ten points from Gryffindor and Slytherin!"

I couldn't help but retort; some habits die hard. "Can you even take away points? You're not a professor," I pointed out. Hermione elbowed me. I knew I wasn't helping but it was better than what I would've said a couple years ago. I didn't call him a squib for once.

Filch looked surprised. He had more than his fair share of rude comments from me and I knew he expected much worse. He was so shocked he forgot to punish me. He sent us to our common rooms and hobbled off.

Hermione turned to me, looking amazed. "Why'd he let you off the hook?"

"Shock, I think. He's used to much worse comebacks."

Hermione laughed, it was my favourite sound.

"We better go before he comes back." I didn't want to leave her but it was getting late. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

I pulled her close and gave her a final kiss. When I pulled back, she was blushing. She was so cute and innocent.

"See you," I said and turned and left. I looked back over my shoulder when I reached the door leading to the dungeons. Hermione stood, pink in the face with her fingers on her lips. How did she manage to look so cute and so sexy at the same time?

**I hope you liked it. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. No excuses this time, I just keep forgetting. I'll try to update more regularly but I won't make any promises.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

**Hermione's POV**

I expected Ginny to be waiting up for me in our dorm, but when I entered the nearly deserted common room, I found her on the couch talking quietly to Harry. The only other person around was a fifth year boy who looked as though he was about to fall asleep on top of his homework. I checked my watch, it was 11:30, I must've been with Draco longer than I'd thought.

Harry and Ginny looked up when I entered relief on their faces. "Mione!" Ginny exclaimed and the boy in the corner jerked awake. He shook his head to clear it, then rolled up his parchment and climbed the stairs to the boys dormitories. I walked over slowly and slumped into an armchair. I hadn't realised how tired I was. I knew Harry and Ginny wanted to talk and were probably worried, but I didn't really want to talk about Ron again. I wanted to forget about him and go dream about Draco.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Just tired."

"What happened earlier?" Ginny asked.

I groaned, "I don't really want to talk about it right now."

"Are you sure you're okay, though?" Harry asked.

"Honestly, I'm fine!" I insisted. "I just want to go to bed, you guys didn't have to wait up for me."

"We were worried about you," Ginny said, gently.

I sighed. I shouldn't have been so short with them but I was _so _tired.

"I really appreciate it guys, but right now I just want to sleep."

"Okay," Harry said.

"Will talk to us tomorrow?" Ginny asked.

"I promise. Goodnight," I waved goodbye before climbing the stairs to my dorm. When I opened the door I found Parvati asleep in her bed. I walked over to mine and fell on top of it, not bothering to change my clothes, and fell asleep.

I woke up the next day feeling uncomfortable; I really wished I hadn't slept in my skinny jeans. I sat up slowly. Ginny and Parvati's beds were both empty, as was the room, and I couldn't hear anyone in the bathroom. I checked my watch, it was 10:30. I stood up and stretched just as a teeny tiny owl flew through my window. It landed on my bed, looking up at me with its cute little eyes, holding a tiny box in its beak. It was _so_ cute! I took the package, which was addressed to me and it flew out the window. It was so tiny! I opened the little box, wondering who sent it to me. A packet of mini liquorice wands fell out, as well as a small note. I smiled at the liquorice wands, they were my favourite, and opened the note.

Meet me at the black lake at 2:00?  
-D

Aww! Draco was so sweet! I couldn't believe he remembered that I loved liquorice wands and cute mini owls. I hummed happily to myself as I changed into a flowery patterned halter neck dress and brushed my hair. I skipped down the steps to the common room where I found Harry tickling Ginny on the couch. I skipped over to them and started tickling Harry, laughing. Harry jumped and yelled out while Ginny burst into another fit of giggles, she was laughing so hard that her eyes began to moisten. I laughed and dodged Harry as he reached to grab me around my waist. I collapsed onto the arm of the sofa, still laughing.

Ginny smiled happily at me. "Someone's in a good mood," she noted.

"I am rather," I said in a sing-song voice.

"What's gotten you so happy?" Harry asked me.

"Oh you know," I said in an attempt at a casual tone of voice, "I have a date today, sort of."

"What?" Ginny squealed and a couple of heads turned in our direction. Harry hushed her she ignored him. "Draco asked you out?" she whispered, for which I was grateful. I nodded beaming. "Oh my god!" she squealed again.

"Shh!" I told her.

"When?" she asked, excitedly.

I considered that. "Well he sent me a note and some liquorice wands this morning."

Ginny sobered a little. "Then how do you know it's a date?" she asked.

"Well considering we kissed yesterday-" I began but Ginny's squeal interrupted me.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked.

"I was tired." I shrugged. I was watching Harry. He hadn't said anything but he was smiling which I took as a good sign.

"Then why were you in such a bad mood yesterday?" He asked.

My face fell. "Oh that was about Ron," I muttered.

"What'd he do?" Ginny asked.

"Um…" I might as well get it over with. I took a deep breath then said, "I told him I missed him and wanted to be friends again. He said I didn't miss him to much if I was 'all over Malfoy' then he insulted Draco some more and told me he was playing me," I took another deep breath, "then he said we couldn't be friends because he wanted more and then he kissed me." I finished.

Harry and Ginny just sat there with their mouths hanging open.

"Then what happened?" Ginny asked when she found her voice.

"I pulled away and told him I didn't want to, he blamed that on Draco and then disaparated. Then Draco found me and he asked me if I was okay and what happened I was just staring at him and then we kissed… and then he told me he loved me."

Ginny gasped and, once again, she and Harry sat with their mouths hanging open.

"What'd you say?" Harry asked me.

"I didn't say anything, I was in shock. I'm pretty sure he was too, I don't think he meant to say it. So I just giggled and then kissed him." Harry sniggered.

"Do you love him?" Ginny asked me.

"I don't know, but I didn't want to lie to him." Ginny nodded in agreement.

"And was that when we came and found you?" Harry asked and I nodded.

"What happened when we got back to Hogwarts?" Ginny asked me.

"He asked me about Ron, and I definitely don't want to relive the conversation that followed, then we, uh," I fidgeted and Harry and Ginny smirked. "Then Filch caught us and sent us to our common rooms."

Harry stopped laughing and looked shocked. "That's all? He caught you two making out," I blushed scarlet, "and just sent you to you common rooms?"

"Well he deducted a couple points but then Draco gave him what was probably the most polite retort he'd ever given and Filch went into shock." Harry and Ginny laughed and I joined in.

Ginny hesitated then asked me, "What are you going to do about Ron?"

I sighed, "I dunno, I'll just see how things are when we go home for Easter."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

**Draco's POV**

I stared out across the surface of the black lake, the water lapping at my feet. I was meeting Hermione in a couple minutes. I'd told Blaise everything that had happened yesterday last night. He'd smirked a lot, but I could tell he was happy for me, he just didn't show his emotions much. Neither did I but I had been more and more even since I saw Hermione on the train. I'd received a letter from my mother this morning. It didn't say much and seemed rehearsed. I worried about my mother. She was very depressed. I don't think she wanted father to come home any more than I did. I wondered what my parents would think about Hermione being my girlfriend. I hoped I'd at least get a reaction out of my mother, she didn't say much anymore. I had no idea what my father would think. I hadn't really spoken to my father since the war. I didn't know if he renounced his old ways or not. If he hadn't he probably either forbid me to see Hermione or use her to get a decent reputation. If he had renounced his ways he'd be a total stranger to me and I had no idea what he'd do.

I started when I felt a pair of smooth, warm arms wrap around my waist. I smiled and turned to face Hermione. She looked beautiful, as always. "Hey," I whispered.

"Hi," she replied softly. "What are you thinking so hard about?"

"You." She smiled. It wasn't exactly a lie but I wanted today to be a good day. I didn't want to talk about depressing topics. "How was your morning?" I asked her.

"It was amazing," she beamed. "I woke up to find a cute little owl carrying a packet of liquorice wands." I grinned back at her. "I'm actually supposed to meet the secret admirer pretty soon," she teased.

"Huh," I said. "It seems I have some competition."

"Absolutely," Hermione nodded seriously, "He's very sweet and incredibly handsome." She couldn't keep a straight face and broke into a grin.

"Oh, is he?" I asked leaning down. Hermione blushed and looked down. "Well I suppose I'll have to give him something to compete with," I breathed. Hermione's face tilted upwards and she closed her eyes. I leaned down resting my forehead on hers then, instead of kissing her, I picked her up bridal style, turned and ran into the water, splashing the bottom of her dress. She screamed and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.

"Draco!" she cried, but started laughing. I joined in, finally setting her down, we were both knee deep in the water and I was incredibly grateful that I was wearing shorts.

The water was pleasant and the bank was soft. Hermione tried to glare at me but she couldn't stop laughing, which only made me laugh harder. I bent over clutching my stomach, which ached from laughing so hard, and felt tiny droplets of cold water fall on top of my head. I looked up to see Hermione grinning mischievously at me.

I laughed, "Oh, you're dead!" I reached down, scooped up a handful of water which I then threw at her. Hermione ducked to avoid the worst of it but still got water all through her hair. She splashed water back at me and pretty soon we were engaged in a full on water fight.

Ten minutes later we collapsed on the bank, both soaked and breathless from laughing. I watched the clouds in the sky as I listened to Hermione's slow breathing. I don't know how long we lay there, but it was perfect. Occasionally we'd glance at each other and smile but just lying next to her made my heart race. It was so easy, much easier than it was being around anyone else. It was peaceful and quiet… too quiet. My brow furrowed as I listened carefully, there was hardly any noise, but when we'd first arrived the grounds were full of students. Hermione gazed at me curiously, silently asking me what was up. I sat up slowly and she did too. We both turned around to look behind us at the other students.

They were all staring at us.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

**Hermione's POV**

People stared and whispered to their friends as I made my way to the Gryffindor common room after Arithmancy on Friday afternoon. I was sick of it. Draco and I had been dating for a month a people still stared, it was infuriating! Draco didn't mind it as much, but it still annoyed him. I'd never completely understood what Harry hated so much about all his attention but now I did. Not that he didn't still get attention, when Drake and I first started going out, there had been rumours that Harry had 'disowned' me and cursed Draco into oblivion. Obviously people now realised that wasn't true; Harry was fine with me and Draco. People still gossiped about how he felt about it though. But Drake and I still got the most attention. I got the most. There were rumours going around that I'd either given or been given a love potion. I even heard some idiot third year telling her friend that I had been imperiused and had crossed over to the dark side.

Admittedly the rumours had been dying down, but tomorrow was the Gryffindor vs Slytherin quidditch match. Draco and Harry were both playing and they felt extremely awkward about it. Draco hadn't quit the team, partly because I'd persuaded him and partly because Blaise was on the team too. He did have a bit of a hard time, though. Theodore Nott was on the team, his parents were both in Azkaban and he was crazy about getting revenge. He despised Draco and Blaise and things had only gotten worse when Drake and I started dating. Nott was a beater, but thankfully Blaise was captain of the Slytherin team and could keep him in check. Quidditch was a brutal game though, so he got away with beating them up a bit. Once Draco had come back from practice with a broken nose and the next day there were heaps of rumours about Harry punching Draco in the face for hurting me.

When I entered Gryffindor tower, I headed straight for the boys staircase. Harry and I avoided hanging out in the common room at the moment and, seeing as he couldn't get into the girls dorm, we hung out in his. The older Gryffindors didn't gossip much but some of the younger ones were pissing me off. I opened the door labelled "Eighth Years" and closed it again almost instantly. I'd gotten a brief glimpse of Harry and Ginny making out on his bed. They were both shirtless. At least Ginny still had a bra on. "Sorry!" I yelled through the door. It wasn't that bad, at least I didn't walk in on them having sex. I wondered if they'd had sex yet. I wondered when I'd have sex with Draco. I hadn't with Ron and I was still a virgin but I didn't think Draco was. That made me nervous about it but neither of us had brought it up. I decided to talk to Ginny about it later.

"Okay, you can come in now!" Ginny called.

I opened the door slowly. Harry and Ginny both had a shirt on and were sitting as far away from each other as they could, while still sitting on the same bed. Ginny was face was redder than her hair and Harry wasn't talking his eyes off of the floor. I desperately tried not to laugh. I sat down across from them, on Neville's bed.

"I'm so sick of everyone staring at me," I complained, eager not to talk about what I'd just interrupted.

"It'll go away, eventually," Harry told me, looking up from the ground but still not looking at me.

"Yeah," Ginny agreed, "you just have to wait until the weekends over. By then they'll have stopped gossiping about us beating Slytherin."

I laughed, "You're awfully confident." Ginny winked at me. I smiled back, then sighed and turned to Harry, "I don't know how you stand it!" I told him.

Harry shrugged. "I yell at them if I'm in a bad mood or I just complain to you guys, just like you're doing right now." He smiled.

The door opened and Dean and Seamus entered. They were used to Ginny and I hanging out here but we could tell they wanted some privacy so we said goodbye to Harry and went back to our dorm.

I sat down on my bed, thinking hard, while Ginny stood in front of the mirror, brushing her hair.

"Ginny can I ask you something?" I asked her slowly.

"Shoot," she told me, still brushing her hair.

I decided to cut straight to the point. "Have you and Harry had sex?" I asked her quickly.

Ginny dropped her brush. She turned around slowly and walked towards me. "Why?" she asked, cautiously.

"Just wondering," I muttered.

Ginny sighed, "Yeah, we have."

I nodded slowly; it wasn't that surprising, considering how long they'd been together. "How long had you been together when you did?" I asked her.

Ginny considered that. "Well it was over the summer holidays, when you and Ron were together, that's why I didn't tell you,"

"I wouldn't have told Ron," I said, slightly insulted.

"I know, but he was always around," Ginny explained. "I dunno how long we'd been together, I dunno if the past year you were gone counted or not."

I nodded, I knew they did. Harry thought about her all the time we were on the run.

Ginny sat down next to me. "Are you thinking about sleeping with Draco?" she asked me.

I blushed and then shrugged. "I dunno, neither of us has mentioned it I've just been thinking about."

Ginny nodded. "Well, I don't think it's about how long you've officially been dating, it's about how you feel." She paused. "He'd be your first, right?"

I nodded. "I don't think I'd be his though," I confessed. I was pretty sure Draco would have slept with Pansy at some point.

"Don't make any assumptions; I'm sure even jerk-Draco would never sleep with Parkinson." I laughed. "Whatever you decide, talk to him about it and don't do it until it feels right," Ginny told me.

"Thanks Ginny," I smiled at her.

"No worries." Ginny smiled then went to pick up her brush.

"So are you guys ready for the match tomorrow?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Hell yeah!" Ginny said excitedly. "Dunno what its gunna be like playing against Draco and Blaise though."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." I sounded confident enough to convince Ginny but not myself.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

**Hermione's POV**

I cheered with Parvati, Neville, Luna and Seamus as Ginny scored yet another goal against the Slytherin keeper. The score was 80-30 to Gryffindor and six of the eight goals had been scored by Ginny, two of Slytherin's were scored by Blaise. I watched Harry grin, while he hovered above the other players, momentarily abandoning his search for the snitch. However, he soon went back to scanning the pitch for the snitch. Draco hovered at the other end, squinting into the corners of the pitch. I wasn't quite sure who I wanted to catch the snitch, but I didn't dare tell anyone that. Nott was being quite brutal; Harry and Ginny had both spent most of their time narrowly avoiding bludgers. I watched as he aimed another at Ginny's head. It missed, but got Dean in the stomach instead. Ginny continued to fly forward, holding the quaffle, and managed to score again. Parvati and I clapped and jumped up and down.

A few minutes later, everyone's attention turned to Harry and Draco. They were both diving down to the centre of the pitch, were I could just make out the snitch. It flew to the right side of the pitch, giving Harry the advantage. Harry and Draco both accelerated, plunging to the bottom of the pitch. Then Harry's fingers closed around the fluttering gold ball and the Gryffindors cheered. I jumped up and down, waving my arms in the air. I was about to turn to hug Parvati when something caught my eye.

I saw it in slow motion. Nott swung at a passing bludger with what looked like all the strength he had, aiming at Harry. Harry, caught by surprise, ducked too late and the bludger smashed into his arm, which was still raised in triumph. Harry's arm snapped and he dropped the snitch. Harry's face screwed up in pain as his arm hung limply at an odd angle. I screamed. A couple hundred feet above me, Ginny did too. Then she shot at Nott. So did Blaise. The force of the double collision sent Nott spiralling off into the Slytherin crowd, clutching his broomstick for dear life. Madam Hooch blew her whistle furiously. She flew after Nott, shouting something at Ginny and Blaise over her shoulder. When she reached Nott she grabbed his arm and dragged him down the ground where Professor Slughorn was waiting, a furious expression on his face. Harry had managed to land and was being led up to the castle by Professor McGonagall. Ginny and Blaise landed next to Draco.

I had hurried down the steps with Parvati and Neville hot on my heels. The rest of the crowd was in a state of shock and hadn't started to leave the stands, so I had a clear path. I knew Harry would be fine, he'd suffered much worse, but I was still worried. But, more than that, I wanted to get my hands on Nott. I was going to hit him! Every stinking bit of him! I streaked onto the Quidditch Pitch and made my way over to Draco, Blaise, Ginny and the rest of the Gryffindor team. I slowed down in confusion when I reached the group. It looked as though they were having a huge group hug. Then I realised they were holding Ginny back. She was struggling against Dean and Demelza, who were holding her arms, and glaring across the pitch where Professor Slughorn and Madam Hooch were shouting at Nott.

"I'm gunna curse his arse into oblivion!" She screamed.

"Ginny!" She turned, distracted, "Wait and kill him later. Besides," I smirked glancing at Professor Slughorn, "Slughorn looks as though he's about to kick the crap out of him."

The corners of Ginny's mouth twitched. She stopped struggling, but continued to shoot daggers at Nott.

Nott wasn't even looking remorseful. He had that loathsome self-satisfied look on his stupid, ugly face. Professor Slughorn and Madam Hooch were both yelling themselves hoarse, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

"C'mon," Neville said, "Let's go up to the castle, Madam Pomfrey's probably fixed Harry by now."

We all headed off the pitch and up to the castle. Draco fell into step beside me and took my hand.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I will be when I see Harry and get my hands on Nott," I half-growled the last part.

Draco smiled. "Feisty Mione!" He laughed.

The corners of my mouth twitched, "Forget wands, I'm gunna kick the crap out of him."

"I pretty sure half the school will," Draco said, seriously.

We knew it wouldn't take long for Madam Pomfrey to mend Harry's arm and she'd probably already finished, but we headed to the hospital wing first, to check if Harry was still there. Just before we reached the door, it opened and Harry came out. Ginny ran forwards and threw her arms around him. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up.

Putting her back down, he said, "See, good as new."

Ginny smiled. "I know," she said, letting go of him.

I let go of Draco's hand and gave Harry a quick hug. "How'd it go?"

"Oh fine," Harry shrugged, "I've had worse. What happened after I left? We won the match even though I dropped the snitch, right?"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course, that's what you're worried about! Yeah, we did."

"Professor Slughorn and Madam Hooch are probably still yelling at Nott," Seamus said happily.

"Yeah, McGonagall went to join them once she dropped me off at the hospital wing," Harry replied.

"Oh and Ginny and Blaise nearly knocked him of his broom," Parvati smirked.

Harry laughed and gave Ginny's shoulders a squeeze. "That's my girl."

**Sorry I haven't been writing – no excuses, I just forgot about it. I re-wrote this chapter, so it could've been up earlier, but I like this version better. I hope you enjoy **


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

**Draco's POV**

Blaise and I headed back to our dorm to change out of our Quidditch robes. Hermione and the other Gryffindors had gone back to their common room, where I knew a celebration party would probably be held. Even after all the confusion, they'd want to celebrate the victory. I knew from experience that these celebrations could go well into the night, so I didn't expect to see Hermione again until tomorrow. I was still gunna go to the library with Blaise, not because I was expecting to see her, but to avoid the Slytherin common room. I'd been worrying about how the rest of my house would react if Harry caught the snitch. I knew people would accuse me of throwing the match, no matter how obvious it was that Harry had the advantage. I knew Blaise was probably gunna get some hate for attacking Nott, but not too much. A lot of Slytherins didn't like Nott but were too scared to say or do anything. When we reached the hidden door, Blaise gave it the password and we walked inside.

We headed straight to the dormitory staircase. I was dimly aware at the glances thrown in our direction. Some were glares, most were indifferent but only a couple were friendly. I was extremely careful to avoid Pansy's eyes. She'd taken it pretty hard when we'd started avoiding her and lost it when I started dating Mione. She'd half screamed, half cried at me for ten minutes until I locked myself in my dorm. She kept trying to talk to me, but wouldn't when Harry or Hermione or the others were around so I was able to avoid her pretty easily. Blaise and I changed in silence, and then went back downstairs. The plan was to just leave straight away, but something stopped us when we reached the bottom of the staircase. Nott had just walked into the common room.

Everyone went silent and stared at either Blaise and I or Nott.

"What're you doing here?" Blaise snapped.

"I live here, Zabini," Nott replied coolly.

"Shouldn't you be packing?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Nope," Nott smiled, "Just because it was precious Potter who got hurt, everyone thinks I'm outta here. As I pointed out to Professor McGonagall, what I did was no worse than when Potty and the weasel twins tackled _us_ after that match a couple years ago."

I didn't let my face change but I realised Nott had a point. It wasn't as though Harry was even badly injured, he was perfectly fine.

"Well they got detention for a month, a note home and disbanded from the team for the rest of the year," Blaise pointed out. "So has Slughorn dismissed you, or do I have to?"

"You think I care if I get kicked off the team?" Nott yelled. "With you two on the team, we're not gunna win anything!"

"We've never won a game against Gryffindor since Harry joined, even when Drake and I weren't on the team!" Blaise yelled back.

"I don't see you trying to change that!" Nott eves narrowed. "Did you make a deal to throw the match so Malfoy could shag the mudblood?"

Everyone gasped. I didn't think I just grabbed my wand. Nott's was already in his hand and he fired curse at me. It missed narrowly, but burnt my jumper as it flew past. It hit the wall and left a scorch mark. Blaise grabbed his wand and fired his own curse at Nott right after I did. Nott made a shield charm and the curses rebounded. A couple people screamed and ducked or hid behind furniture. Pretty soon we were duelling. Nobody joined in but a couple of people screamed at us to stop.

Blaise had a burn on his cheek, I had a nosebleed and Nott had a gash on the side of his face and along his arm when the door opened and Professor Slughorn ran into room.

"Protego!" He yelled and the power of the force field cause Nott, Blaise and I to stumble backwards. "Malfoy, Zabini," Slughorn yelled, "detention Monday evening, my office!"

I didn't give a damn about one stupid detention, I just wished I'd did Nott a bit more damage.

Slughorn turned to Nott. "You, young man," He bellowed, "will follow me back to the headmistress's office! I've never been so outraged!"

I knew that part of the reason Slughorn was so pissed was that Harry and Blaise were a couple of his favourites, but he'd never seemed to like Nott either.

Nott glared at Slughorn but followed him out of the room. The room was silent. I waited a minute before leaving the common room, Blaise right behind me, to make sure Nott had left the corridor.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the library. I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that Mione didn't show up, even though I hadn't expected her to.

When we left I turned to Blaise. "There is no way I'm sleeping in our dorm if there's the slightest chance Nott's there," I said.

"Me neither, c'mon we can use the room of requirement," Blaise suggested.

I hadn't been in the room since the war but Hermione told me they'd been able to get it back to normal and it still worked.

The room had two four poster beds, a couch and a wardrobe when we entered.

Blaise turned to me. "If Nott doesn't get kicked out, and I don't think he will, d'you think we could just stay here?"

"I don't care if we're allowed, I'm not sleeping in the same room as him," I said.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

**Hermione's POV**

I walked with Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna to the edge of the lake where Parvati, Seamus and Dean were sitting, holding a stack of toast in my hands. We'd all woken up late and breakfast had finished by the time we'd come downstairs. We'd only just managed to grab some toast, eggs, bacon, a couple jars of jam and some bottles of orange juice. The celebration last night had been less fun than usual, though it had still gone until nearly midnight. Everyone had discussed what Nott had done to Harry and debated what his punishment would be. We still didn't know what had happened to him, many people thought he'd been expelled, but I expected Draco would be able to tell me. We reached the edge of the lake and sat down on the large picnic blanket Parvati had conjured, spreading out the food on paper plates.

After twenty minutes we had nearly finished all the food. Neville and Seamus were the only ones still eating. Parvati was lying on her back, sunbaking, Luna was staring into space and Ginny was lying in Harry's lap. I was gazing across the grounds, having grown bored of the Quidditch talk, when I saw Draco and Blaise heading towards us.

Even though we'd been together for a while, seeing Draco still took my breath away. It didn't hurt that the sunlight streaming behind him made him look like he was glowing.

"Hey guys," Blaise said when they reached us, sitting down next to Parvati's head.

Harry, Ginny and Dean stopped talking and everyone said hello. Dean and Seamus had finally accepted Draco and Blaise and were beginning to quite like them. Draco sat down next to me and put his arm around my waist, smiling at me.

"Hi," I murmured, snuggling into his chest.

"What happened to your cheek?" Parvati asked Blaise, dragging me out of my Draco-trance. Now that I looked at him properly I saw a pink mark on Blaise's face.

"Oh, Drake and I got into a duel with Nott," Blaise said casually.

"What?" We all said together.

"Are you okay?" I asked Draco, concerned.

"Yeah, fine," He smiled.

"When did you see him?" Ginny said fiercely.

"Calm down, babe," Harry said, even though his face was a little angry too.

"Last night," Draco said.

"What happened to him?" Neville asked. Luna was now giving the conversation her undivided attention and Parvati had propped herself up on her elbows.

"Detentions, a letter home and he got kicked of the team," Blaise said.

"That's it?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Well that was before we got into the duel," Draco said. "Slughorn dragged him back to McGonagall's office after that."

"Did you two get in trouble as well?" I asked.

"We got a detention Monday night but it was worth it," Blaise said aggressively.

"Did you curse the crap out of Nott?" Parvati asked, smiling.

"Slughorn broke it up before too long but he got the worst of it," Blaise smiled savagely.

"What happened when he came back?" Dean asked.

"Please tell me he's expelled," Seamus begged.

"Dunno, we didn't go back," Blaise admitted.

"What?" I asked, looking at Draco.

"We spent the afternoon in the library and then slept in the room of requirement," Draco explained.

"We're thinking of moving in there if Nott doesn't get kicked out," Blaise said.

"Can you do that?" Harry asked.

"What if someone else wants to use the room?" Neville pointed out.

"We'll only be using it overnight and either way, I'm not sleeping in the same room as Nott," Draco said, fiercely.

"Whatever," Ginny said, "How do we find out what happened to Nott, I wanna curse his sorry ass!"

"Probably have to ask a Slytherin, and I'm not going anywhere near Pansy," Draco said.

"I will," Blaise volunteered, "But will one of you come with me? She'll leave us alone that way."

"I will." Parvati stood up, dusting grass off her shorts. Blaise smiled and together they walked away in the direction of the castle.

I looked up at Draco. "How long d'you think they'll take?"

Drake shrugged. "Depends how long it takes to find her."

"So how much damage did you do to Nott?" Ginny persisted.

Draco and Harry smiled at her eagerness. "Not as much as I'd like," Draco admitted. "He's got a long cut on his arm, but I dunno how deep. The cut on his forehead was bleeding pretty heavily, though." Ginny smiled at that.

"Head wounds always bleed heavily," I informed them.

"Oh," Draco and Ginny said, sounding disappointed.

Draco looked over my shoulder and smiled. "Blaise and Parvati are coming back, they look happy."

"Please let him be expelled," Seamus continued to mutter under his breath.

Blaise and Parvati hurried over, stopping at the edge of the picnic blanket, puffing slightly.

"What happened to him?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"Suspended!" Parvati said happily.

"For how long?" Neville asked, excitedly.

"Until Easter." Blaise smiled. "Five weeks of freedom, seven if you count Easter break."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

**Hermione's POV**

**I made a typo last chapter, Nott is suspended until **_**Christmas **_**break, not Easter. I'm from Australia and our first holiday of the year is Easter here and I forgot it was different in the Northern Hemisphere.**

I walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, sniggering. Ginny had just cornered Theodore Nott on his way to the carriages and hexed the crap out of him. Professor Slughorn had been the only teacher nearby and instead of yelling at her he gave her a not-so-subtle wink and nod of approval. Ginny was walking quickly towards Parvati and Neville with a smug look on her face. Harry and I were hurrying along behind her, Harry trying not to look pleased and proud, but failing completely.

"What's so funny?" Parvati asked as we joined her.

"Ginny just cursed Nott," I muttered, trying to keep a straight face.

Ginny didn't say anything, she just picked up a knife and started buttering her toast, but the smug smile on her face grew.

Parvati and Neville laughed. "About time," Neville joked.

I laughed too, but stopped abruptly when Pigwidgeon landed in between me and Harry. My eyes widened; Ron wasn't writing to _me_, was he? I looked sideways at Harry, who was already watching me. He reached out and took the envelope from Pig, who was twittering madly.

Harry read the name and address quickly and then muttered quietly, "It's for me."

I looked down at my plate. Two seconds ago everyone had been laughing but now an uncomfortable silence filled the air. Harry was reading Ron's letter very intently with his nose an inch from the parchment, and everyone else seemed very interested in their breakfast. Well, everyone except Ginny. She was looking at me nervously with concerned eyes. I avoided her gaze.

What was I thinking; there was _no way _Ron would write to me after the way we left things. I still sort of missed him, but I was annoyed with him now too. I was angry about the things he'd said about Draco, and hurt about the way he'd handled things, and, most of all, confused. _So _confused. I had no idea what to do about him.

Harry broke the awkward silence. "He says Mrs Weasley's invited us to stay over Christmas," he told me. "Do you want me to reply yes for you?"

I wasn't sure what I was doing over Christmas anymore. I didn't think I wanted to stay with the Weasleys, I'd probably spend Christmas with them though. I wasn't sure what Draco was doing over the holidays but I definitely meet up with him. I wanted to go back to Australia and continue searching for my parents but I couldn't think where to look. I could always rent an apartment with Harry like we did over the summer.

"Um, no thanks," I told Harry. "I don't think I'm staying over this year."

Harry nodded, took a piece of parchment out of his bag and wrote Ron a reply.

Ginny looked up. "Where are you staying?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I might get an apartment again, or maybe go back to Australia," I admitted.

Ginny nodded, "As long as you're not just trying to avoid Ron."

"I'm not," I promised.

Harry finished his reply to Ron, sent Pigwidgeon off again and Harry Ginny, Neville and I said goodbye to Parvati, who had a free period, and left for Herbology.

After lunch, I had a free period, and was meeting Draco in the entrance hall. He was already waiting when I arrived. I walked over and kissed his cheek. A couple of people were watching us but I ignored them.

"Hey you," I smiled up at Drake.

"Hey," he smiled too. "D'you wanna go to the library, or the lake? Whatever you want."

My smile grew; I couldn't get over how incredibly sweet he was. Especially given how much of a jerk he used to be.

"Let's go to the library," I decided. I wanted to go somewhere private and the library was usually pretty empty.

"Okay." Draco took my hand and together we made our way to the library.

"What are you doing over Christmas?" I asked, remembering breakfast.

Draco shrugged. "Going home, I guess. Mother doesn't like being alone and father gets let out of Azkaban a few days before Christmas. Why, what are you doing?" he asked, turning to look at me.

I shrugged too. "I dunno… I was thinking of maybe going back to Australia. Mrs Weasley invited me to stay with them, but I said no."

"Where're you going to stay, then?" Draco asked.

"Well, if everything goes well, and I find my parents I'll probably stay with them but, if not, I can always rent an apartment again."

Draco nodded. "Will you be in Australia on Christmas?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. If I find my parents I'll have Christmas with them but if not I'll probably just go to the Weasleys." I wasn't particularly looking forward to spending Christmas with Ron after the way we left things but I didn't want to be alone either.

Draco was looking a little uncomfortable. "What?" I asked, curiously.

"Well," he mumbled. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to spend Christmas with me?"

I smiled. "Of course I would!" I hesitated. "But… are you sure your parents would want me to?"

Draco's face brightened. "They'd be fine with it! I've kinda already told mother about you," Draco blushed and I beamed, "I don't know what's going on with my father, but I'll talk to him before Christmas so we can cancel if it doesn't go well."

I smiled. "How'd your mum take it?" I asked nervously.

"Pretty well," Draco smiled. "She's looking forward to meeting you…sort of." Draco started to look uncomfortable again.

I completely understood. The last time I'd come face to face with Narcissa, other than seeing her at the Final Battle, I'd been tortured by her sister. I knew Draco wanted his mother and I to get on, so I was going to try, but I was extremely nervous about meeting her.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

**Draco's POV**

I walked down the corridor arm in arm with Mione. The suits of armour were singing Christmas carols and there were decorations all over the walls. I used to find it all cheesy but now I liked it. I seemed to like everything better now; I wasn't so negative anymore. Blaise talked about it all the time. It would annoy me more if I wasn't so happy about it.

There was only one week until we went home and I didn't want to. I was looking forward to seeing my mother, I missed her and she seemed happier now, but I really liked it at Hogwarts now. Even classes were better now that Mione was sitting next to me. Harry and the other Gryffindors had now completely accepted me and Blaise, and we were all really comfortable with each other. I'd even hung out with Harry alone a couple times. I was going to miss everybody when I left for Christmas holidays. I would miss Mione most of all. She'd rented the apartment she had over the summer and we planned on seeing each other a lot, but she was also going back to Australia to look for her parents. I was really going to miss her; we hadn't spent more than a day without seeing each other since we'd got together.

I also wasn't looking forward to coming back next term, because I knew Nott would be back. Things had been so easy when he was gone; people had stopped gossiping and staring and Mione and I, and I knew that would go away when he came back. I guess I would just have to make the most of this week.

And I might as well start now, I thought as I spotted some mistletoe hanging in the corner. I smirked pulling Mione underneath.

"What're you-?" she began to ask me, smiling, but I interrupted her by pressing my lips to hers.

A small giggle escaped her lips and then she kissed me back in full force. I wrapped my arms around her waist pressing her up against me. I could feel her lips stretch into her beautiful smile as she twisted her fingers through my hair. I held onto her even more tightly and lifted her off the ground. Mione gave a small gasp and wrapped her arms around my neck. I spun around slowly and a small giggle escaped Hermione's lips.

Then she jumped slightly and squealed. My grip around her waist loosened and she slid back down to the ground. Ginny grinned devilishly at us from behind her. Harry stood a few feet away looking incredibly awkward.

"You poked me!" Hermione said to Ginny.

"Yeah, she nearly head-butted me!" I added. "Whatever happened to 'get a room'?"

Ginny laughed. "That's just so boring!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry smiled and walked over now that we were all smiling.

"Well sorry to interrupt," Ginny smiled. "Harry and I were just going for a walk but I couldn't resist."

I rolled my eyes and Mione smirked.

"Well you two carry on! This time," Ginny smirked at me, "I'd suggest getting a room."

I rolled my eyes again as Ginny took Harry's hand and skipped off. Harry gave us an apologetic look before turning and following his girlfriend as I turned to face mine.

"So…" I said awkwardly.

Hermione blushed and laughed, looking at the floor.

"Let's go to the lake," I suggested.

Hermione smiled and nodded. We'd been headed towards the lake before we'd gotten… distracted.

"So you rented your old apartment?" I said, as I took Mione's hand and led her down the hall.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad I could get it, it's easier than finding a new one."

"Is Harry going to stay with you again?" I asked.

Mione shrugged. "I'm not sure… probably. I mean, the Weasley's house will probably be a little crowded and I'm sure he and Ginny would like some time together alone. Anyway he said he'd look after the place while I'm in Australia."

Both of our smiles faded. I could tell Mione wasn't looking forward to being apart either.

"Do you know where you're going to go?" I asked."

"Well the last time I went I wasn't thinking that clearly because Ron and I had just broken up and I was still getting over the whole war thing and I was just basically walking down the street knocking on doors." We both smiled. "But this time I'll be smarter."

"I hope so, because there are probably millions of houses in Australia and it'd take forever to check every one. And I couldn't be away from you that long." Hermione laughed and I winked at her.

"I am plenty smart and I wasn't literally knocking on doors!" Mione elbowed me and I laughed at her.

"I was just kidding!" I assured her. "I'm sure you'll find them this time, baby."

"I hope so." She said, quietly. "I figured I could try and trace their credit cards. I wasn't too concerned about cancelling them considering the death eaters probably didn't even know what a credit card is."

"That's probably true 'cause I've never heard of one." I laughed.

"They're little rectangles of plastic that pay for things." I gave her a look that plainly told Mione I had no idea what she talking about and she laughed. "Okay, never mind. The point is you can trace them to find out where they've been used, so I can find the last place they used theirs."

"Okay I mostly understood that and it sounds like a good idea," I told her.

Mione giggled. "Thanks, but you still have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Not really," I admitted. "But if you needed some help, I was kinda thinking I could come with you." I looked at the ground for a few seconds then looked back up at Mione.

"You wanna come with me?" she whispered.

"I'd like to."

"Really?" she sounded disbelieving.

"Of course I want to. I want to be there for you, because I know that whether or not you find them it'll be hard for you." I told her looking into her beautiful brown eyes, which had tears forming in them. I hoped they were happy tears. "And, if we do find them," I hesitated, "I'd like to meet them. I can tell that they're important to you."

A tear rolled down Mione's cheek and I wiped it away with my finger.

"You are amazing," she whispered, smiling up at me. "And I would love for you to come with me."

I gave a small laugh of relief, I hadn't been sure if she'd want me to come. She smiled up at me with those beautiful brown eyes and I couldn't resist leaning down and kissing her.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

**Hermione's POV**

I looked around my half-empty dorm room, trying to remember if I'd forgotten to pack anything. I wasn't taking everything with me; Ginny had let me keep some of my stuff in her room when we left for Hogwarts at the beginning of the year and so I probably wouldn't need much stuff. I decided I had everything I needed for the holidays, so I picked up my trunk and went down to the common room where Harry, Ginny and Parvati were waiting for me. Neville was with Luna and Dean and Seamus had, naturally, left all their packing until the last minute and were still desperately trying to finish. Draco and Blaise packed last night and said they'd meet us in the entrance hall.

"Okay, I'm ready to go," I said, dragging my trunk behind me.

It took about 10 minutes to get all of us and our trunks through the portrait hall and by that time I could hear Seamus and Dean making their way down the boy's dormitory staircase.

"So I figured I'd stop by the apartment with you before going to the Weasley's," Harry said, falling into step with me.

I nodded. "Are you going to leave your stuff there or at the Weasley's?"

"I'm not sure, it depends how crowded it's going to be." Harry raised his voice slightly and called out to Ginny, who was walking ahead of us with Parvati, "Ginny, d'you know who'll be staying at you house this Christmas?"

Ginny looked over her shoulder and shrugged. "Charlie's staying at Bill and Fleur's, but George and Percy will be staying at our place. What about you?"

Harry shrugged, "I'll probably stay half at yours and half at the apartment."

Ginny nodded, smiled and then turned back to Parvati.

"Actually," Harry reconsidered, "Andromeda thought it would be a good idea if Teddy and I had some time together and that's probably easier if I'm at the apartment."

"Aw, I can't wait to see the little guy again," I squealed, getting excited. "I bet he's gotten really big!"

"Well as long as you don't mind having him in your apartment?" Harry asked.

"That's fine!" I insisted. "Besides I'll be in Australia."

Harry nodded. "For how long?"

"I dunno," I shrugged. "I'll be at the Weasley's for Christmas and I'm having lunch with Draco's mum, but other than that I'll probably spend most of the holiday there, unless I find my parents quickly."

Harry nodded and then threw his arm over my shoulder, squeezing me closer to him. "You know I'm going to miss you, don't you?"

I nodded and put my arm around his waist. "Yeah, I'll miss you too, but it's only a couple weeks, we'll see each other soon."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, I know, Hermy, don't get so mushy on me."

I pulled away from Harry and smacked him on the arm. "Don't call me Hermy!"

Harry laughed again and dodged my hand as I tried to hit him again.

We'd reached the entrance hall and it was pretty crowded.

"Do you see Drake and Blaise?" I asked Ginny and Parvati, as Harry and I stopped next to them.

"Um," Parvati craned her neck over the crowd and then pointed over somebody's shoulder. "There they are!"

Draco and Blaise spotted us about the same time as we spotted them, and walked over.

"Hey," they said.

Draco walked to my side and kissed my forehead. "Hi beautiful," he whispered in my ear.

I giggle softly and blushed. Ginny rolled her eyes at us, but I knew she was just happy for me.

"Well, we'd better get in line or there'll be no carriages left for us," Blaise suggested.

We had to wait in line for ten minutes but I didn't mind. I was going to miss Hogwarts and my friends and over the past couple weeks I'd made sure I appreciated the time with them even if we were just stuck in line.

Twenty minutes later we'd stored our luggage in our compartment and were relaxing in our compartment. Parvati and Blaise were sitting cross legged on the seats playing exploding snap, Harry was leaning against the window with Ginny leaning against him, watching them play. I was lounging in Draco's lap, while he absentmindedly played with my hair.

The trip back to Hogwarts was probably the best I'd ever had. There was nothing to worry about; I was just able to have fun with my friends. Dean, Seamus, Neville and Luna all stopped in for a bit. We spent the whole day swapping chocolate frog cards, eating sweets from the lunch trolley, playing games and just talking and laughing.

At last the train pulled into platform nine and three quarters. My friends and I hung back to wait until the rush was over, like we always did. Then we grabbed our stuff and left the train.

Padma Patil walked over to Parvati once we were on the platform.

"Hey sis, mum and dad are waiting for us over there," she pointed off into the distance, "I just thought I'd let you know. Have a good summer you guys." Padma smiled at us and then turned and made her way back to her parents.

Parvati turned to us and smiled. "Well I guess I'll see you all after the holidays!" Parvati hugged me and Ginny winked to Harry, Blaise and Draco, then waved and walked off into the crowd.

"Well I better go," Blaise said, "my mum gets annoyed when I make her wait."

Draco and Harry nodded sympathetically. I knew they both knew how that felt.

Blaise clapped Harry and Drake on the shoulder and gave Ginny and I a group hug. "Later guys," he said, and then he turned and disappeared into the mass of people being reunited with their parents.

"Well, why don't you guys wait here and I'll go see if I can find mum?" Ginny suggested, standing on tiptoe to kiss Harry on the cheek.

"Yeah," Draco agreed, "I should probably go find mine."

"Well, then I'll say goodbye now," Ginny said reaching forward to give Drake a hug. He smiled and hugged her back. "Take care of Mione when you guys are in Australia."

"I will," Draco promised.

"Hey," I protested, "I don't need to be taken care of!"

"I know you don't," Ginny grinned and then left to find Mrs Weasley.

Draco turned to me. "I'm going to go find my mum, can you wait here so she can meet you?"

"Sure." I smiled.

"Great, I'll be back in a minute guys!" And he too disappeared into the crowd.

I took a deep breath. I was half excited, half terrified at the thought of finally "officially" meeting Narcissa.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, picking up on my mood.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay, well I don't want to make this more awkward than necessary, so I'll go find Ginny and Mrs Weasley. Do you want us to wait for you?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Sure thing." Harry smiled at me. "It'll be fine Mione, I'll see you in a minute." And with that Harry left, taking both his and my trunk with him.

"Mione?" I heard Draco's voice behind me. "I'd like you to meet my mother."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

**Hermione's POV**

_Oh my God! _I thought to myself. Then, before I could freak out any more than I already was, I took a deep breath to calm myself and then turned to face Narcissa Malfoy.

She was wearing plain black robes and her hair was pulled back without a strand out of place. Unlike the other times I'd seen her, she was smiling. It was a small smile, but I smile nonetheless. I smiled back nervously.

"Hi Mrs. Malfoy it's nice to see you," I said nervously. I thought considering it was our first meeting, it would be best not to bring up old times by saying again.

She nodded, looking relieved that I hadn't mentioned the past. "You too, Draco's told me a lot about you."

I blushed and smiled politely but I was reminded unpleasantly of when I'd first met Draco's father, when she said that. He'd said the exact same thing, but his tone had implied that it was all bad. At least Mrs. Malfoy sounded pleasant.

"Draco's told me about you too," I said, smiling at him.

Narcissa smiled again. "Well I'm afraid Draco and I need to be going now but I look forward to seeing you at lunch."

"You too," I agreed.

Narcissa smiled then, realising Draco and I probably wanted some time alone to say goodbye, said, with a little less composure, "I'll just be over there when you're ready, Draco. It was nice meeting you, Hermione." She then disappeared into the thinning crowd and I turned to Draco.

"Well that went pretty well," I said, though it sounded like a question.

"Yeah, it did," Draco said reassuringly, though he looked relived.

"Well I don't want to ruin my progress by making your mum wait, so I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I'll come by your apartment before lunch to pick you up."

"Okay," I said, very relieved. I did not want to arrive at Malfoy Manor alone. "I'll see you in a couple days."

"Bye," Draco whispered gently, before leaning down and brushing his lips over mine.

The kiss only lasted for a second or two but it was so sweet and full of love. When the kiss ended, he gave me one last look before smiling sadly and turning to find his mother.

When Draco had disappeared from view, I let out a very relieved sigh. I had been nervous as hell to meet Draco's mum, but at least the worst was now over.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before I remember Harry, Ginny and Mrs Weasley would be waiting for me and I ran off to find them.

They weren't hard to spot as the station was now nearly empty. "Sorry I took so long!" I said when I reached them.

"It's fine, dear, you weren't that long," Mrs Weasley said, kindly giving me a hello hug. "So are you and Harry going to your apartment first or our place?"

I exchanged glances with Harry. "I think we'll stop by the apartment for a minute just to dump our stuff and then meet you at the burrow, if that's okay?" I asked.

"That's fine, in that case I'll see you two soon," Mrs Weasley turned on the spot and disapparated. Taking advantage of her mother's absence Ginny gave Harry a quick kiss before disapparating, with her luggage.

"You ready?" I asked Harry tightening my grip on my trunk.

Harry nodded and we both disaparated to our apartment.

We reappeared in the living room/dining room with an adjoining kitchen.

"I'm going to dump my stuff in my room before we go to the Burrow," I told Harry, heading to the bedroom I'd used last time.

"Yeah me too, I left some stuff in Ron's room that I can use when I'm over there," I heard Harry say behind me.

Only a minute or two later, Harry and I apparated to the Burrow's front gate. I got nervous as we walked to the house, I had no idea what I would do if Ron answered the door. I didn't know if he knew about me and Draco, but I was certain he wouldn't like it. Thankfully it was Ginny who answered the door. She stood on her toes to give Harry a quick kiss, before letting me in. I knew those two were taking full advantage of every minute Mrs Weasley didn't have her eye on them.

Harry and I followed Ginny into the living room, where George, Mr and Mrs Weasley were talking to Bill and Fleur who were visiting for the day.

"Ah, 'Arry!" Fleur exclaimed, standing up, "Eet is good to see you again!" She gave him a hug and kissed both his cheeks before turning to me. "And eet is good to see you too, 'Ermione," she said hugging me as well.

Ginny no longer glowered when Fleur hugged and kissed Harry. She could see that Fleur was perfectly happy with Bill and had finally realised she didn't have romantic feelings for Harry. We both had a much better relationship with Fleur now that we'd gotten over our insecurities. Not to mention the war had matured us even further.

While Fleur struck up a conversation with Harry and Ginny, I headed over to where George was standing against the wall.

"Hi," I said softly and rather hesitantly. George looked up at me.

There were light shadows under his eyes and his hair was a bit ruffled but he looked much better than he had when we'd seen him in the Hog's Head drunk with deep shadows under his bloodshot eyes near the beginning of term. He smiled at me and my heart warmed, my mouth automatically stretching into a grin.

"Hey Hermy," he said, pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back, my eyes growing damp, and, for once, I let the 'Hermy' thing go.

"I missed you," I whispered.

George pulled away and gave me a sad, apologetic smile. "Of course you did, who wouldn't? I'm just so amazing!" He said with a grin. A tear rolled down my cheek. I was so happy George was starting to move on but he reminded me of Fred so much it hurt. "So what's this I hear about you dating a ferret?" He asked, a little more serious now.

"Ron told you?" I asked, glaring.

"Yeah," George admitted, "A couple weeks ago, it's not true, is it?"

"Yes," I said defensively.

George looked shocked. "I thought Ron was just jealous or whatever," he admitted. He closed his mouth and looked seriously at me. "I know you never had great taste in men, I mean you went for Ron! If you had good taste you would've chased after me, but _Malfoy_?"

I glared at him. "Okay first of all, I've never 'thrown myself' at anyone! And _Draco _is different! Harry and Ginny and all our friends think so too and Ginny's already threatened Ron about this! I should warn you she's had a lot of time to practise her bat-bogey hex!"

George's face darkened. "Yeah, on the Nott kid, I heard. What happened to him?"

"He got suspended. He'll be back next term though," I said darkly.

"You looked worried," George observed.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked him incredulously. "He's capable of a lot worse than a broken arm."

George nodded seriously. "Yeah, I know but worry about that later, try and make the most of him not being around."


End file.
